Popularity of the name Elias, 1880–2025
Elias has never been more popular than it is now: in 2025, 8,837 boys were named Elias, about 1 in 190 boys born in the U.S. that year, ranking #13. In all, Social Security counts 129,263 boys named Elias since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 239 girls named Elias.
- Peak year
- 2025
- Rank in 2025
- #13
- Babies in 2025
- 8,837
- Total since 1880
- 129,263
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has climbed from #100 in 2015 to #13 in 2025, with 4,101 boys named Elias in 2015 and 8,837 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Elias ranked highest in the 2020s so far, at #38, with 42,605 boys given the name that decade. It started at #247 in the 1880s.
Every 20 years in the records: 65 in 1880 (#189), 23 in 1900 (#477), 168 in 1920 (#470), 103 in 1940 (#582), 171 in 1960 (#601), 385 in 1980 (#422), 1,403 in 2000 (#242) and 5,993 in 2020 (#54).
Highs and lows
The most boys given the name in a single year was 8,837, in 2025. Its best rank, #13, came in its peak year.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 boys named Elias, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 65 | #189 |
| 1881 | 41 | #243 |
| 1882 | 57 | #217 |
| 1883 | 44 | #240 |
| 1884 | 48 | #247 |
| 1885 | 60 | #204 |
| 1886 | 41 | #264 |
| 1887 | 34 | #276 |
| 1888 | 24 | #377 |
| 1889 | 36 | #281 |
| 1890 | 36 | #289 |
| 1891 | 24 | #349 |
| 1892 | 38 | #298 |
| 1893 | 35 | #292 |
| 1894 | 36 | #291 |
| 1895 | 29 | #340 |
| 1896 | 28 | #363 |
| 1897 | 24 | #384 |
| 1898 | 32 | #339 |
| 1899 | 20 | #415 |
| 1900 | 23 | #477 |
| 1901 | 17 | #466 |
| 1902 | 21 | #460 |
| 1903 | 20 | #470 |
| 1904 | 26 | #409 |
| 1905 | 29 | #393 |
| 1906 | 18 | #547 |
| 1907 | 32 | #396 |
| 1908 | 40 | #360 |
| 1909 | 28 | #487 |
| 1910 | 34 | #474 |
| 1911 | 45 | #432 |
| 1912 | 97 | #389 |
| 1913 | 117 | #394 |
| 1914 | 111 | #454 |
| 1915 | 114 | #520 |
| 1916 | 163 | #439 |
| 1917 | 154 | #454 |
| 1918 | 141 | #502 |
| 1919 | 168 | #451 |
| 1920 | 168 | #470 |
| 1921 | 150 | #505 |
| 1922 | 162 | #483 |
| 1923 | 162 | #477 |
| 1924 | 180 | #457 |
| 1925 | 193 | #428 |
| 1926 | 207 | #421 |
| 1927 | 185 | #449 |
| 1928 | 181 | #445 |
| 1929 | 178 | #444 |
| 1930 | 172 | #451 |
| 1931 | 149 | #462 |
| 1932 | 145 | #475 |
| 1933 | 141 | #473 |
| 1934 | 128 | #513 |
| 1935 | 130 | #501 |
| 1936 | 116 | #529 |
| 1937 | 112 | #550 |
| 1938 | 124 | #521 |
| 1939 | 138 | #491 |
| 1940 | 103 | #582 |
| 1941 | 138 | #496 |
| 1942 | 111 | #591 |
| 1943 | 108 | #607 |
| 1944 | 118 | #559 |
| 1945 | 130 | #524 |
| 1946 | 101 | #638 |
| 1947 | 140 | #572 |
| 1948 | 133 | #579 |
| 1949 | 145 | #560 |
| 1950 | 163 | #528 |
| 1951 | 157 | #543 |
| 1952 | 164 | #544 |
| 1953 | 160 | #564 |
| 1954 | 165 | #577 |
| 1955 | 144 | #620 |
| 1956 | 146 | #630 |
| 1957 | 143 | #641 |
| 1958 | 151 | #625 |
| 1959 | 154 | #622 |
| 1960 | 171 | #601 |
| 1961 | 190 | #570 |
| 1962 | 176 | #589 |
| 1963 | 187 | #578 |
| 1964 | 182 | #587 |
| 1965 | 169 | #586 |
| 1966 | 170 | #579 |
| 1967 | 161 | #593 |
| 1968 | 165 | #591 |
| 1969 | 203 | #552 |
| 1970 | 226 | #538 |
| 1971 | 222 | #536 |
| 1972 | 254 | #495 |
| 1973 | 233 | #509 |
| 1974 | 310 | #454 |
| 1975 | 308 | #455 |
| 1976 | 311 | #444 |
| 1977 | 366 | #412 |
| 1978 | 357 | #412 |
| 1979 | 375 | #408 |
| 1980 | 385 | #422 |
| 1981 | 396 | #417 |
| 1982 | 405 | #414 |
| 1983 | 392 | #411 |
| 1984 | 350 | #447 |
| 1985 | 428 | #411 |
| 1986 | 422 | #415 |
| 1987 | 510 | #378 |
| 1988 | 548 | #369 |
| 1989 | 643 | #352 |
| 1990 | 666 | #361 |
| 1991 | 707 | #343 |
| 1992 | 698 | #342 |
| 1993 | 771 | #329 |
| 1994 | 812 | #319 |
| 1995 | 889 | #298 |
| 1996 | 919 | #291 |
| 1997 | 1,034 | #272 |
| 1998 | 1,140 | #261 |
| 1999 | 1,220 | #257 |
| 2000 | 1,403 | #242 |
| 2001 | 1,518 | #228 |
| 2002 | 1,575 | #217 |
| 2003 | 1,712 | #210 |
| 2004 | 1,760 | #207 |
| 2005 | 2,116 | #188 |
| 2006 | 2,163 | #186 |
| 2007 | 2,362 | #174 |
| 2008 | 2,522 | #157 |
| 2009 | 2,486 | #158 |
| 2010 | 2,830 | #141 |
| 2011 | 2,993 | #139 |
| 2012 | 3,229 | #115 |
| 2013 | 3,498 | #113 |
| 2014 | 3,784 | #103 |
| 2015 | 4,101 | #100 |
| 2016 | 4,486 | #93 |
| 2017 | 4,931 | #78 |
| 2018 | 5,351 | #67 |
| 2019 | 5,722 | #60 |
| 2020 | 5,993 | #54 |
| 2021 | 6,355 | #48 |
| 2022 | 6,730 | #43 |
| 2023 | 7,006 | #36 |
| 2024 | 7,684 | #25 |
| 2025 | 8,837 | #13 |
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.