Elgan

Boys' name

From Welsh Elgan; literal meaning unconfirmed

Elgan has been given to 12 babies in the U.S. since 1916. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1916, with 7 recorded.

Babies named Elgan, 1918

1 in 434,000

Elgan over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Elgan: meaning, origin, and history

From Welsh Elgan; literal meaning unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Elgan means

Elgan is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Elgan is used in English and Welsh.

Elgan comes through Welsh Elgan.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Elgan is pronounced /ˈɛlɡən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 12 boys were recorded with the name Elgan between 1916 and 1918. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1916; its best national rank was #3,268 in 1916.

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 Elgan?

Elgan had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1918, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1918: 1 in 434,000; 5 of 2,171,052 births
Among boys only: 1 in 203,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1918: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 300,973 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Elgan 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 1918 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 300,973 children born in 1918 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Elgan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Elgans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Elgan was born before 1916 — so the typical Elgan is around 109 today.

Median birth year: 1916; About 109 years old
Biggest decade: 1910s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 0; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1910s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (12).

Is Elgan 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1916 (7)
Years since peak: 109; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #3,268; 1916

Spellings of Elgan

Elgan is not the most common spelling — Ethan is, with 22.3% against Elgan's <0.01%.

Ethan22.3%487,389
Logan17.8%387,999
Alan16.6%363,313
Evan13.2%287,701
Edgar7.2%157,214
Elias5.9%129,263
Allan4.4%96,458
Keegan1.8%38,519

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.

Elgan around the world

Where Elgan 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

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Elgan by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #3,268; 1916
Peak year: 1916; 7 that year
First recorded: 1916
Last recorded: 1918
All-time count: 12
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Elgan

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

Elgia Gugan Elger Elga Aegan Cagan Reigan Kogan Elgar Gagan Jagan Loegan Daygan Jorgan Tygan Elgene Loagan Haygan Colgan Teygan Zagan Taygan Dargan Loggan

Sibling names for Elgan

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

For a sister

Leatha Leone Artie Alpha Hettie Cecil Ona Albina

For a brother

Winfield Dorsey Isadore Aloysius Hyman Regis Sydney Meyer

Explore around Elgan

Top names of 1916, Elgan's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1916 Boys' names starting with E Uncommon Welsh Boy Names