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Elgar

Boys' name

Elf + spear

Elgar has been given to 63 babies in the U.S. since 1914. 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 1915, with 9 recorded.

Babies named Elgar, 1994

1 in 531,000

Elgar over time, 1880–2025

Boys
02.557.51018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Elgar: meaning, origin, and history

Elf + spear

Old English

What Elgar means

Elgar means “elf + spear”, associated with ælf and gār.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old English Ælfgār (from Proto-Germanic *Albigaizaz, equivalent to ælf (“elf”) + gār (“spear”)) and Old English Æþelgār (from Proto-Germanic *Aþalagaizaz, equivalent to æþele (“noble”) + gār (“spear”)).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Elgar is used in English. Its origins include Old English.

Elgar comes through Old English Ælfgār, Old English Æþelgār, Proto-Germanic *Albigaizaz and Proto-Germanic *Aþalagaizaz.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 63 boys were recorded with the name Elgar between 1914 and 1994. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1915; its best national rank was #2,684 in 1915.

How common is Elgar?

Elgar had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1994, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1994
1 in 531,000
7 of 3,715,972 births
Among boys only
1 in 276,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 1994
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
367,961 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Elgar 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 1994 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 367,961 children born in 1994 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Elgar. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Elgars were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Elgar was born before 1922 — so the typical Elgar is around 103 today.

Median birth year
1922
About 103 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
38.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
36.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
23
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 38.1% of all recorded uses (24).

Is Elgar 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 1915 (9)
Years since peak
110
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,684
1915

Spellings of Elgar

Elgar is not the most common spelling — Edgar is, with 32.6% against Elgar's 0.01%.

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.

Elgar around the world

Where Elgar 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.

  • South Australia
    1962–1962
    #548
    in 1962

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Elgar 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
#2,684
1915
Peak year
1915
9 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
1994
All-time count
63
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Elgar

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

ElgerJigarElgeneJagarSugarElganElgiaBogarEsgarMedgarJaegarYosgarRuzgarElgieSaagarElgaJosgarElginCougarJaggarRhaegarRogarGarSagar

Sibling names for Elgar

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 Elgar

Top names of 1915, Elgar's peak yearThe 1910s in fullOther names that peaked in 1915Boys' names starting with EOld English Boy Names