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Eleni

#1,038 in 2025Girls' name

To shine, warm, smoulder, burn, through Ελένη

Eleni has been given to 6,822 babies in the U.S. since 1946. In 2025 it ranked #1,038 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2024, with 255 recorded.

Babies named Eleni, 2025

1 in 13,800

Eleni over time, 1880–2025

Girls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Eleni: meaning, origin, and history

To shine, warm, smoulder, burn, through Ελένη

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Eleni means

Eleni belongs to the name family reached through Eleni → Ελένη → Ἑλένη. Its meaning is “to shine, warm, smoulder, burn”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Transliteration of Greek Ελένη (Eléni), a female given name used in (modern) Greece. Doublet of Helen, Ellen, Helena, and Elena.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Eleni (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Eleni is used in English.

Eleni comes through Greek Ελένη.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ελένη, Helen, Ellen, Helena, Elena and Ἑλένη.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,822 girls were recorded with the name Eleni between 1946 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 255 in 2024; its best national rank was #1,006 in 1993.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,451 in 2020 to #1,038 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,602 in 2015 to #1,038 in 2025.

How common is Eleni?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 13,800
240 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 6,700
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,038
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
9,576 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Eleni 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 5004%

Put another way: gather 9,576 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Eleni. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Elenis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Eleni was born before 2004 — so the typical Eleni is around 21 today.

Median birth year
2004
About 21 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
20.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
56.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
6,800
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 20.8% of all recorded uses (1,420).

Is Eleni 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
−32
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+413
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+564
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.79×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
94.1%
Peak was 2024 (255)
Years since peak
1
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,006
1993

Spellings of Eleni

Eleni is not the most common spelling — Helen is, with 51.3% against Eleni's 0.34%.

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 Eleni is used

Across 2016–2025, Eleni was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in 3,448 girls, against 1 in 8,095 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in 50,000).

229 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Illinois1 in 3,448
  2. 2Massachusetts1 in 3,448
  3. 3New York1 in 5,000
  4. 4Maryland1 in 5,882
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 5,882
  6. 6New Jersey1 in 6,250
  7. 7California1 in 7,143
  8. 8Florida1 in 8,333

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.

Eleni around the world

Where Eleni 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
    #596
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1997–2024
    #790
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    2014–2018
    #896
    in 2018
  • France
    1981–2025
    #3,159
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,075
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1951–2013
    #536
    in 2013

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

Notable people named Eleni

People whose public names include Eleni, 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.

Eleni in other languages

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

JelaLelaLenaLeneAlenaElenaElinaEllenHelenLeenaLenkaNitsaOlenaAlenkaHelenaHeleneJelenaYelenaLénaHelkaLenkeHelénaHélèneJeļena

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

Eleni by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,038
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 413
Best rank ever
#1,006
1993
Peak year
2024
255 that year
First recorded
1946
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,822
Count in 2025
240

Names similar to Eleni

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

ElexisEleneElenorElenoraEleanaEleenEleanoraElenaEleaseElenoreElenyEleahEleiaEleynaEleanoreLeniElectraEleenaEleinaEleoraElenElektraEleaElenna

Names with a curve like Eleni

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

DevorahMikaMalkaFarahYaelShoshanaXochitlNechamaDalilaSanaRochelShay

Sibling names for Eleni

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 Eleni

Top names of 2024, Eleni's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1993Girls' names starting with EHelen Variations & Nicknames