Popularity of the name Elena, 1880–2025
Elena has never been more popular than it is now: in 2025, 4,836 girls were named Elena, about 1 in 330 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #42. In all, Social Security counts 108,013 girls named Elena since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 104 boys named Elena.
- Peak year
- 2025
- Rank in 2025
- #42
- Babies in 2025
- 4,836
- Total since 1880
- 108,013
Where it stands now
In the past decade the name climbed from #106 in 2015 to #42 in 2025: 2,898 girls got it in 2015, and 4,836 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Its best decade is the 2020s so far, when 26,192 girls were named Elena, #49 for the decade. It started at #791 in the 1880s.
Every 20 years in the records: 8 in 1880 (#628), 23 in 1900 (#760), 178 in 1920 (#529), 135 in 1940 (#598), 431 in 1960 (#468), 633 in 1980 (#370), 1,366 in 2000 (#234) and 3,930 in 2020 (#55).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 4,836, in 2025. Its best rank, #42, came in its peak year.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Elena, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 8 | #628 |
| 1881 | 5 | #830 |
| 1884 | 10 | #686 |
| 1885 | 7 | #842 |
| 1886 | 11 | #693 |
| 1887 | 7 | #937 |
| 1888 | 15 | #663 |
| 1889 | 11 | #802 |
| 1890 | 11 | #825 |
| 1891 | 17 | #644 |
| 1892 | 15 | #762 |
| 1893 | 17 | #713 |
| 1894 | 27 | #557 |
| 1895 | 25 | #607 |
| 1896 | 25 | #621 |
| 1897 | 18 | #735 |
| 1898 | 22 | #697 |
| 1899 | 23 | #644 |
| 1900 | 23 | #760 |
| 1901 | 29 | #577 |
| 1902 | 37 | #528 |
| 1903 | 23 | #695 |
| 1904 | 40 | #520 |
| 1905 | 34 | #600 |
| 1906 | 40 | #555 |
| 1907 | 43 | #554 |
| 1908 | 57 | #476 |
| 1909 | 50 | #535 |
| 1910 | 65 | #503 |
| 1911 | 84 | #443 |
| 1912 | 83 | #536 |
| 1913 | 116 | #464 |
| 1914 | 132 | #478 |
| 1915 | 164 | #481 |
| 1916 | 166 | #506 |
| 1917 | 162 | #525 |
| 1918 | 188 | #494 |
| 1919 | 175 | #514 |
| 1920 | 178 | #529 |
| 1921 | 211 | #475 |
| 1922 | 205 | #481 |
| 1923 | 211 | #474 |
| 1924 | 213 | #476 |
| 1925 | 213 | #479 |
| 1926 | 232 | #443 |
| 1927 | 242 | #441 |
| 1928 | 250 | #428 |
| 1929 | 214 | #450 |
| 1930 | 219 | #455 |
| 1931 | 176 | #485 |
| 1932 | 193 | #475 |
| 1933 | 178 | #479 |
| 1934 | 164 | #502 |
| 1935 | 130 | #561 |
| 1936 | 150 | #530 |
| 1937 | 148 | #551 |
| 1938 | 153 | #550 |
| 1939 | 127 | #593 |
| 1940 | 135 | #598 |
| 1941 | 198 | #494 |
| 1942 | 205 | #519 |
| 1943 | 225 | #496 |
| 1944 | 223 | #478 |
| 1945 | 216 | #494 |
| 1946 | 242 | #501 |
| 1947 | 256 | #517 |
| 1948 | 281 | #478 |
| 1949 | 266 | #497 |
| 1950 | 259 | #501 |
| 1951 | 267 | #504 |
| 1952 | 277 | #506 |
| 1953 | 314 | #489 |
| 1954 | 338 | #483 |
| 1955 | 408 | #444 |
| 1956 | 349 | #502 |
| 1957 | 403 | #471 |
| 1958 | 440 | #454 |
| 1959 | 399 | #485 |
| 1960 | 431 | #468 |
| 1961 | 400 | #485 |
| 1962 | 422 | #469 |
| 1963 | 484 | #440 |
| 1964 | 507 | #435 |
| 1965 | 455 | #443 |
| 1966 | 529 | #398 |
| 1967 | 519 | #402 |
| 1968 | 475 | #436 |
| 1969 | 522 | #423 |
| 1970 | 509 | #433 |
| 1971 | 515 | #412 |
| 1972 | 485 | #406 |
| 1973 | 433 | #440 |
| 1974 | 546 | #382 |
| 1975 | 521 | #389 |
| 1976 | 530 | #387 |
| 1977 | 539 | #389 |
| 1978 | 574 | #371 |
| 1979 | 629 | #360 |
| 1980 | 633 | #370 |
| 1981 | 654 | #358 |
| 1982 | 616 | #373 |
| 1983 | 563 | #391 |
| 1984 | 542 | #397 |
| 1985 | 726 | #328 |
| 1986 | 638 | #368 |
| 1987 | 595 | #389 |
| 1988 | 611 | #393 |
| 1989 | 722 | #355 |
| 1990 | 756 | #352 |
| 1991 | 742 | #348 |
| 1992 | 791 | #337 |
| 1993 | 819 | #322 |
| 1994 | 921 | #297 |
| 1995 | 947 | #293 |
| 1996 | 947 | #301 |
| 1997 | 971 | #295 |
| 1998 | 1,138 | #273 |
| 1999 | 1,468 | #212 |
| 2000 | 1,366 | #234 |
| 2001 | 1,392 | #228 |
| 2002 | 1,358 | #233 |
| 2003 | 1,464 | #222 |
| 2004 | 1,584 | #215 |
| 2005 | 1,604 | #217 |
| 2006 | 1,875 | #187 |
| 2007 | 1,744 | #192 |
| 2008 | 1,627 | #209 |
| 2009 | 1,685 | #195 |
| 2010 | 1,886 | #164 |
| 2011 | 1,939 | #160 |
| 2012 | 2,275 | #139 |
| 2013 | 2,393 | #132 |
| 2014 | 2,616 | #121 |
| 2015 | 2,898 | #106 |
| 2016 | 3,190 | #94 |
| 2017 | 3,882 | #68 |
| 2018 | 3,776 | #67 |
| 2019 | 3,949 | #60 |
| 2020 | 3,930 | #55 |
| 2021 | 4,283 | #53 |
| 2022 | 4,290 | #49 |
| 2023 | 4,276 | #47 |
| 2024 | 4,577 | #46 |
| 2025 | 4,836 | #42 |
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.