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Elba

#11,203 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Form of Alba

Elba has been given to 3,706 babies in the U.S. since 1888. In 2025 it ranked #11,203 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1956, with 82 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 92% girls, 8% boys all-time.

Babies named Elba, 2025

1 in 414,000

Elba over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Elba over time

In 2025, Elba went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18882025

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.

Elba: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Alba

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Elba means

Elba is a form of Alba.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Elba is used in Spanish.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈel.βa/ for Elba.

Meaning behind the documented name family

Elba is a form of Alba. Alba has more than one origin or interpretation.

Origin, language, and formation

Elba is used in Portuguese.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Alba.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Portuguese, Elba is pronounced /ˈɛw.bɐ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,393 girls were recorded with the name Elba between 1888 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 82 in 1956; its best national rank was #761 in 1891.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #13,909 in 2020 to #11,203 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #11,155 in 2015 to #11,203 in 2025.

In the United States, 313 boys were recorded with the name Elba between 1892 and 1972. Its highest annual count was 18 in 1925; its best national rank was #1,112 in 1892.

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 Elba?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 201,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#11,203
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Elba sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Elba. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Elbas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Elba was born before 1962 — so the typical Elba is around 63 today.

Median birth year
1962
About 63 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
15.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
8.3%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
2,370
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 15.7% of all recorded uses (533).

Is Elba 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
−1,460
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,706
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−48
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.89×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
9.8%
Peak was 1956 (82)
Years since peak
69
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
34.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#761
1891

Spellings of Elba

Elba is not the most common spelling — Emma is, with 22.6% against Elba's 0.10%.

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 Elba is used

Across 1910–2025, Elba was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 14,286 girls, against 1 in 44,662 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in —).

07 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 14,286
  2. 2California1 in 33,333
  3. 3New Jersey1 in 50,000
  4. 4Illinois1 in 100,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 100,000
  6. 6Kentucky1 in —
  7. 7Massachusetts1 in —
  8. 8Oklahoma1 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. Elba has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Elba around the world

Where Elba 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
    2014–2025
    #4,201
    in 2025
  • France
    2021–2024
    #7,254
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1993–2006
    #782
    in 2006

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

Notable people named Elba

People whose public names include Elba, 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.

Elba in other languages

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

AlbaElbia

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

Elba by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,203
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,706
Best rank ever
#761
1891
Peak year
1956
82 that year
First recorded
1888
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,393
Count in 2025
8

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,112
1892
Peak year
1925
18 that year
First recorded
1892
Last recorded
1972
All-time count
313
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Elba

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

AlbaRosalbaElbertaMelbaShelbaElbonyElbiaWilbaElbertElbieElbiraFalbaTrilbaSelbaElberthaDelbaNelbaNoralbaElbonieMinelba

Names with a curve like Elba

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

FeliceJanettaNenaJohnettaThomasinaAlethiaTonieDelenaTeresitaJennetteCarlettaJay

Sibling names for Elba

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 Elba

Top names of 1956, Elba's peak yearThe 1950s in fullOther names that peaked in 1891Girls' names starting with EUncommon Portuguese Girl Names