Elva
Elva was given to 41 girls in 2025, #3,664 among girls’ names; 32,514 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 9,100 Americans named Elva and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (28% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 43 and 78.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Elva by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Elva?
#3,664 among girls’ names, 2025
Elva fell from #3,550 in 2015 to #3,664 in 2025 among girls’ names, although its share of girls born rose from 24.6 to 25.5 per million.
818 babies in 1918, the peak
Elva peaked in 1918, when 818 babies were given it (789 girls, #225 among girls’ names). The 41 births of 2025 are 5% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 41 | #3,664 | 0.03 |
| 2024 | 42 | #3,661 | 0.03 |
| 2023 | 38 | #3,928 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 41 | #3,723 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 35 | #4,117 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 45 | #3,413 | 0.03 |
| 2019 | 50 | #3,187 | 0.03 |
| 2018 | 49 | #3,261 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 48 | #3,319 | 0.03 |
| 2016 | 54 | #3,073 | 0.03 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 44 | #3,550 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 43 | #3,604 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 40 | #3,803 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 45 | #3,543 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 34 | #4,279 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 54 | #3,088 | 0.03 |
| 2009 | 39 | #3,962 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 38 | #4,110 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 47 | #3,497 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 56 | #3,027 | 0.03 |
| 2005 | 39 | #3,753 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 46 | #3,276 | 0.03 |
| 2003 | 44 | #3,308 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 51 | #2,900 | 0.03 |
| 2001 | 51 | #2,850 | 0.03 |
| 2000 | 61 | #2,484 | 0.03 |
| 1999 | 54 | #2,616 | 0.03 |
| 1998 | 60 | #2,344 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 51 | #2,523 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 66 | #2,089 | 0.04 |
| 1995 | 50 | #2,519 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 70 | #2,001 | 0.04 |
| 1993 | 86 | #1,725 | 0.05 |
| 1992 | 71 | #1,947 | 0.04 |
| 1991 | 62 | #2,135 | 0.03 |
| 1990 | 82 | #1,767 | 0.04 |
| 1989 | 70 | #1,875 | 0.04 |
| 1988 | 78 | #1,663 | 0.04 |
| 1987 | 68 | #1,751 | 0.04 |
| 1986 | 75 | #1,590 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 65 | #1,744 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 65 | #1,687 | 0.04 |
| 1983 | 72 | #1,552 | 0.04 |
| 1982 | 92 | #1,348 | 0.05 |
| 1981 | 95 | #1,323 | 0.06 |
| 1980 | 74 | #1,574 | 0.04 |
| 1979 | 86 | #1,425 | 0.05 |
| 1978 | 85 | #1,377 | 0.06 |
| 1977 | 87 | #1,327 | 0.06 |
| 1976 | 94 | #1,209 | 0.06 |
| 1975 | 108 | #1,085 | 0.07 |
| 1974 | 88 | #1,242 | 0.06 |
| 1973 | 120 | #992 | 0.08 |
| 1972 | 103 | #1,100 | 0.07 |
| 1971 | 110 | #1,095 | 0.07 |
| 1970 | 107 | #1,100 | 0.06 |
| 1969 | 121 | #975 | 0.07 |
| 1968 | 128 | #914 | 0.08 |
| 1967 | 136 | #872 | 0.08 |
| 1966 | 133 | #870 | 0.08 |
| 1965 | 152 | #804 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 150 | #852 | 0.08 |
| 1963 | 149 | #858 | 0.08 |
| 1962 | 173 | #790 | 0.09 |
| 1961 | 177 | #790 | 0.09 |
| 1960 | 189 | #741 | 0.09 |
| 1959 | 195 | #716 | 0.10 |
| 1958 | 205 | #690 | 0.10 |
| 1957 | 208 | #689 | 0.10 |
| 1956 | 217 | #648 | 0.11 |
| 1955 | 246 | #584 | 0.13 |
| 1954 | 266 | #545 | 0.14 |
| 1953 | 228 | #585 | 0.12 |
| 1952 | 218 | #589 | 0.12 |
| 1951 | 274 | #495 | 0.15 |
| 1950 | 225 | #553 | 0.13 |
| 1949 | 249 | #517 | 0.15 |
| 1948 | 257 | #512 | 0.15 |
| 1947 | 290 | #483 | 0.16 |
| 1946 | 253 | #488 | 0.16 |
| 1945 | 239 | #464 | 0.18 |
| 1944 | 258 | #451 | 0.19 |
| 1943 | 298 | #427 | 0.21 |
| 1942 | 269 | #448 | 0.20 |
| 1941 | 284 | #404 | 0.24 |
| 1940 | 301 | #385 | 0.26 |
| 1939 | 333 | #357 | 0.30 |
| 1938 | 324 | #361 | 0.29 |
| 1937 | 318 | #363 | 0.30 |
| 1936 | 333 | #343 | 0.32 |
| 1935 | 369 | #329 | 0.35 |
| 1934 | 359 | #329 | 0.34 |
| 1933 | 420 | #296 | 0.42 |
| 1932 | 412 | #315 | 0.39 |
| 1931 | 414 | #315 | 0.39 |
| 1930 | 512 | #292 | 0.45 |
| 1929 | 540 | #276 | 0.48 |
| 1928 | 560 | #275 | 0.49 |
| 1927 | 551 | #285 | 0.46 |
| 1926 | 572 | #279 | 0.48 |
| 1925 | 632 | #265 | 0.52 |
| 1924 | 631 | #264 | 0.51 |
| 1923 | 655 | #251 | 0.54 |
| 1922 | 686 | #249 | 0.57 |
| 1921 | 720 | #249 | 0.58 |
| 1920 | 767 | #234 | 0.64 |
| 1919 | 782 | #223 | 0.69 |
| 1918 | 789 | #225 | 0.68 |
| 1917 | 760 | #223 | 0.70 |
| 1916 | 783 | #217 | 0.75 |
| 1915 | 753 | #216 | 0.77 |
| 1914 | 563 | #224 | 0.74 |
| 1913 | 496 | #209 | 0.79 |
| 1912 | 430 | #216 | 0.77 |
| 1911 | 354 | #202 | 0.85 |
| 1910 | 342 | #194 | 0.86 |
| 1909 | 279 | #205 | 0.80 |
| 1908 | 279 | #201 | 0.83 |
| 1907 | 297 | #184 | 0.93 |
| 1906 | 235 | #201 | 0.80 |
| 1905 | 261 | #189 | 0.90 |
| 1904 | 234 | #193 | 0.85 |
| 1903 | 255 | #182 | 1.0 |
| 1902 | 253 | #182 | 1.0 |
| 1901 | 283 | #161 | 1.2 |
| 1900 | 301 | #178 | 1.0 |
| 1899 | 194 | #197 | 0.83 |
| 1898 | 261 | #179 | 1.0 |
| 1897 | 198 | #198 | 0.85 |
| 1896 | 198 | #196 | 0.83 |
| 1895 | 218 | #182 | 0.93 |
| 1894 | 176 | #200 | 0.79 |
| 1893 | 156 | #201 | 0.73 |
| 1892 | 181 | #187 | 0.85 |
| 1891 | 158 | #187 | 0.85 |
| 1890 | 160 | #185 | 0.84 |
| 1889 | 135 | #195 | 0.76 |
| 1888 | 128 | #198 | 0.72 |
| 1887 | 99 | #205 | 0.68 |
| 1886 | 110 | #190 | 0.76 |
| 1885 | 108 | #176 | 0.81 |
| 1884 | 81 | #210 | 0.63 |
| 1883 | 72 | #205 | 0.64 |
| 1882 | 75 | #184 | 0.70 |
| 1881 | 51 | #214 | 0.55 |
| 1880 | 44 | #234 | 0.48 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Elva a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 32,514 Americans recorded as Elva, 97% are girls and 3% boys. In 2025 it went to 41 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Elva: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Elva, and how old are they?
9,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 28% of the 32,514 Americans ever recorded as Elva. The median Elva alive today is 65 years old; half are between 43 and 78.
The 2020 Census counted 18,332 people named Elva (18,094 women and girls, 238 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 10,836 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.7 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,720 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,250 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,140 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 761 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 567 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Elva born?
The states with the most babies named Elva are Texas, California and Pennsylvania, with 40% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 4,299 | #3,041 | 2.7× |
| California | 2,361 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 2,263 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Kentucky | 848 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Virginia | 812 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 725 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 703 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| New York | 702 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| North Carolina | 691 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Oklahoma | 679 | not ranked | 1.3× |
Where Elva is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Elva is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 2.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Elva with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 44,386 babies since 1880, Elva is the most given (73% of them). In 2025 it was given to 41 of their 131 babies (31%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Elva
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Elva and names like it
- Compare Elva and ElviaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sElva peaked in 1918.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Elva since 1910.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Elva.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Elva alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with EMost given first.