Name Awesome

Elan

#2,490 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Oak tree, through Elon

Elan has been given to 4,331 babies in the U.S. since 1963. In 2025 it ranked #2,490 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2011, with 136 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 82% boys, 18% girls all-time.

Babies named Elan, 2025

1 in 61,400

Elan over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Elan over time

In 2025, Elan went to 8% girls and 92% boys.

19632025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Elan: meaning, origin, and history

Oak tree, through Elon

Hebrew

What Elan means

Elan belongs to the name family reached through Elan → Elon. Its meaning is “oak tree”.

Origin, language, and formation

Elan is used in English. Its origins include Hebrew.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Elon.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,533 boys were recorded with the name Elan between 1963 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 136 in 2011; its best national rank was #1,266 in 2011.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,927 in 2020 to #2,490 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,455 in 2015 to #2,490 in 2025.

In the United States, 798 girls were recorded with the name Elan between 1969 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 41 in 1984; its best national rank was #2,349 in 1984.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #13,904 in 2020 to #15,552 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,803 in 2015 to #15,552 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Elan?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 61,400
54 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 31,600
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,490
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
42,555 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Elan sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 42,555 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Elan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Elans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Elan was born before 2008 — so the typical Elan is around 17 today.

Median birth year
2008
About 17 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
34.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
67.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,533
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 34.9% of all recorded uses (1,234).

Is Elan rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+154
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−563
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,035
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.47×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
39.7%
Peak was 2011 (136)
Years since peak
14
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,266
2011

Spellings of Elan

Elan is not the most common spelling — Ryan is, with 17.3% against Elan's 0.06%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Elan is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Elan was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 7,692 boys, against 1 in 19,592 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in 100,000).

113 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 7,692
  2. 2California1 in 12,500
  3. 3Florida1 in 16,667
  4. 4Illinois1 in 25,000
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 25,000
  6. 6New Jersey1 in 25,000
  7. 7Texas1 in 25,000
  8. 8Colorado1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Where Elan is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Elan was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 582,858 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —
  3. 3Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Elan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Elan around the world

Where Elan ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #3,684
    in 2025
  • France
    2007–2025
    #2,913
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1993–2024
    #2,855
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2013–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Elan

People whose public names include Elan, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Elan in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Elan. Linked forms have their own page here.

AlanElonIlanElianEljan

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Elan by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,490
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 563
Best rank ever
#1,266
2011
Peak year
2011
136 that year
First recorded
1963
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,533
Count in 2025
54

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#15,552
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,648
Best rank ever
#2,349
1984
Peak year
1984
41 that year
First recorded
1969
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
798
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Elan

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ElamIlanOlanArlanTylanTalanEladioDilanElaiKelanAslanKeelanDyllanMylanKalanAzlanDaylanJaylanDeklanCaelanKylanRolanElazarCalan

Names with a curve like Elan

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Elan, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

BrighamEamonAvrohomNeelHusseinJohannJaysenMikhailMarshawnAndreyAjKamran

Sibling names for Elan

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Elan

Top names of 2011, Elan's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2011Boys' names starting with E