Popularity of the name Eleanor, 1880–2025
Eleanor was at its most popular in 1915, when 7,036 girls were given the name: about 1 in 140 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #28. In 2025, 7,649 girls were named Eleanor, ranking #12. In all, Social Security counts 336,678 girls named Eleanor since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 645 boys named Eleanor.
- Peak year
- 1915
- Rank in 1915
- #28
- Babies in 1915
- 7,036
- Rank in 2025
- #12
- Total since 1880
- 336,678
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has climbed from #60 in 2015 to #12 in 2025, with 4,442 girls named Eleanor in 2015 and 7,649 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Eleanor ranked highest in the 2020s so far, at #14, with 41,966 girls given the name that decade. It started at #118 in the 1880s.
Every 20 years in the records: 129 in 1880 (#126), 753 in 1900 (#88), 8,497 in 1920 (#25), 3,584 in 1940 (#68), 825 in 1960 (#328), 258 in 1980 (#676), 771 in 2000 (#375) and 6,379 in 2020 (#22).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 8,497, in 1920. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more girls for 1920 than for 1915, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank in any year was #12, first reached in 2025.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Eleanor, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 129 | #126 |
| 1881 | 110 | #142 |
| 1882 | 174 | #117 |
| 1883 | 185 | #114 |
| 1884 | 198 | #124 |
| 1885 | 222 | #119 |
| 1886 | 271 | #114 |
| 1887 | 247 | #122 |
| 1888 | 288 | #128 |
| 1889 | 312 | #123 |
| 1890 | 351 | #117 |
| 1891 | 376 | #103 |
| 1892 | 389 | #116 |
| 1893 | 397 | #110 |
| 1894 | 450 | #108 |
| 1895 | 544 | #98 |
| 1896 | 493 | #102 |
| 1897 | 559 | #95 |
| 1898 | 620 | #95 |
| 1899 | 575 | #94 |
| 1900 | 753 | #88 |
| 1901 | 686 | #84 |
| 1902 | 837 | #79 |
| 1903 | 840 | #79 |
| 1904 | 868 | #80 |
| 1905 | 1,041 | #73 |
| 1906 | 1,088 | #67 |
| 1907 | 1,155 | #67 |
| 1908 | 1,302 | #65 |
| 1909 | 1,460 | #57 |
| 1910 | 1,798 | #55 |
| 1911 | 2,035 | #49 |
| 1912 | 3,120 | #39 |
| 1913 | 3,938 | #34 |
| 1914 | 5,374 | #28 |
| 1915 | 7,036 | #28 |
| 1916 | 7,406 | #27 |
| 1917 | 7,669 | #26 |
| 1918 | 8,176 | #26 |
| 1919 | 7,611 | #30 |
| 1920 | 8,497 | #25 |
| 1921 | 8,054 | #29 |
| 1922 | 7,852 | #28 |
| 1923 | 7,772 | #28 |
| 1924 | 8,193 | #29 |
| 1925 | 7,724 | #31 |
| 1926 | 7,305 | #32 |
| 1927 | 6,963 | #33 |
| 1928 | 6,535 | #36 |
| 1929 | 5,865 | #38 |
| 1930 | 5,823 | #39 |
| 1931 | 5,255 | #40 |
| 1932 | 4,836 | #45 |
| 1933 | 5,106 | #38 |
| 1934 | 4,718 | #44 |
| 1935 | 4,166 | #48 |
| 1936 | 4,341 | #47 |
| 1937 | 4,275 | #53 |
| 1938 | 4,049 | #60 |
| 1939 | 3,810 | #63 |
| 1940 | 3,584 | #68 |
| 1941 | 3,250 | #78 |
| 1942 | 3,165 | #87 |
| 1943 | 2,729 | #107 |
| 1944 | 2,190 | #122 |
| 1945 | 1,876 | #130 |
| 1946 | 1,933 | #139 |
| 1947 | 1,853 | #158 |
| 1948 | 1,664 | #169 |
| 1949 | 1,517 | #183 |
| 1950 | 1,371 | #199 |
| 1951 | 1,296 | #210 |
| 1952 | 1,249 | #218 |
| 1953 | 1,254 | #227 |
| 1954 | 1,117 | #242 |
| 1955 | 1,043 | #257 |
| 1956 | 1,044 | #263 |
| 1957 | 962 | #292 |
| 1958 | 864 | #305 |
| 1959 | 865 | #315 |
| 1960 | 825 | #328 |
| 1961 | 749 | #348 |
| 1962 | 763 | #341 |
| 1963 | 667 | #376 |
| 1964 | 648 | #377 |
| 1965 | 603 | #372 |
| 1966 | 473 | #431 |
| 1967 | 443 | #451 |
| 1968 | 408 | #475 |
| 1969 | 359 | #518 |
| 1970 | 366 | #522 |
| 1971 | 325 | #554 |
| 1972 | 301 | #552 |
| 1973 | 266 | #591 |
| 1974 | 228 | #665 |
| 1975 | 234 | #650 |
| 1976 | 257 | #609 |
| 1977 | 228 | #688 |
| 1978 | 269 | #624 |
| 1979 | 276 | #630 |
| 1980 | 258 | #676 |
| 1981 | 270 | #655 |
| 1982 | 265 | #669 |
| 1983 | 263 | #656 |
| 1984 | 244 | #687 |
| 1985 | 270 | #670 |
| 1986 | 263 | #692 |
| 1987 | 290 | #648 |
| 1988 | 309 | #642 |
| 1989 | 357 | #600 |
| 1990 | 378 | #599 |
| 1991 | 394 | #583 |
| 1992 | 395 | #585 |
| 1993 | 445 | #537 |
| 1994 | 390 | #585 |
| 1995 | 437 | #543 |
| 1996 | 487 | #490 |
| 1997 | 537 | #465 |
| 1998 | 720 | #386 |
| 1999 | 688 | #404 |
| 2000 | 771 | #375 |
| 2001 | 826 | #359 |
| 2002 | 961 | #319 |
| 2003 | 1,007 | #308 |
| 2004 | 1,063 | #301 |
| 2005 | 1,237 | #264 |
| 2006 | 1,221 | #269 |
| 2007 | 1,272 | #266 |
| 2008 | 1,343 | #255 |
| 2009 | 1,486 | #218 |
| 2010 | 1,851 | #166 |
| 2011 | 2,085 | #150 |
| 2012 | 2,383 | #134 |
| 2013 | 3,013 | #106 |
| 2014 | 3,740 | #78 |
| 2015 | 4,442 | #60 |
| 2016 | 5,140 | #41 |
| 2017 | 5,549 | #36 |
| 2018 | 5,728 | #32 |
| 2019 | 6,198 | #27 |
| 2020 | 6,379 | #22 |
| 2021 | 7,099 | #15 |
| 2022 | 6,927 | #16 |
| 2023 | 6,765 | #14 |
| 2024 | 7,147 | #14 |
| 2025 | 7,649 | #12 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.