Elba
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Latin word "alba" meaning "white".
Name Census estimates that about 2,218 living Americans carry the first name Elba. It is a predominantly female name (91.5% of registrations). The average person named Elba today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elba births was 1956 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elba. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Elba with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 154,533 Americans
Peak year
1956
82 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1972 SSA rank
#4,597
Tracked since 1888
Census
Elba in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,745 people with the first name Elba, which placed it at #2,227 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,227
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
11,745 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elba
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elba is Hispanic at 95.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Black (0.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Elba described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Elba at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.7% · 11,242
- White3.2% · 372
- Black or African American0.5% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 46
- Two or more races0.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Elba
Elba leans heavily female at 91.5% of total registrations, but 313 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Elba as a male name
- Ranked #4,597 in 1972
- 6 male births in 1972
- Peak: 1925 (18 births)
Elba as a female name
- Ranked #9,712 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1956 (82 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elba leans strongly female. 11,599 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 148 male bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Elba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elba from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 543 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elba by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Elba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elbas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Elba, while Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 176 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elba
The name Elba is believed to have originated from the Italian word "Elba," which refers to the island of the same name located in the Tuscan Archipelago of Italy. The island's name is derived from the ancient Greek word "Αἴθαλος" (Aithalos), meaning "smoky" or "misty," likely referring to the island's volcanic nature.
Elba has a rich historical significance, dating back to the ancient Roman era. The island served as a place of exile for many notable figures, including the Roman Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who was exiled there in 1814 after his forced abdication. Napoleon's brief stay on the island has contributed to the name's recognition and association with historical events.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Elba can be found in Italian literature from the 16th century. The poet Torquato Tasso mentioned the island in his epic work "Gerusalemme Liberata" (Jerusalem Delivered), published in 1581. However, the name's usage as a given name is not well documented until much later.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Elba. One such person was Elba Esther Gordillo (1945-), a Mexican teacher and labor leader who served as the president of the National Union of Education Workers in Mexico for over two decades. Another was Elba Ramalho (1951-), a Brazilian singer-songwriter known for her contributions to the Música Popular Brasileira (Brazilian Popular Music) genre.
In the realm of sports, Elba Cecilia Muñoz (1968-) is a former Colombian track and field athlete who specialized in the long jump and won a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Elba Leonor Vinueza (1986-) is an Ecuadorian former professional tennis player who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 115 in the world.
Lastly, Elba Esther Gordillo (1945-2022) was a Mexican politician and teacher's union leader who served as the president of the National Union of Education Workers in Mexico for over two decades, becoming one of the most influential and controversial figures in Mexican politics.
While the name Elba is not as common as some other names, it has a rich historical background and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, contributing to its enduring legacy.
People
Elba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elba as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Elba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,218 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elba going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 154,533 US residents.
Is Elba a common name?
We classify Elba as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,697 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elba most popular?
The single biggest year for Elba was 1956, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elba is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elba in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,745 people with the name Elba, or 3.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,227 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Elba in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Elba?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elba leans strongly female. 11,599 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 148 male bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Elba?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elba is Hispanic at 95.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Black (0.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Elba most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (11,242 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Elba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elba a female name?
Yes, 91.5% of people registered as Elba in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Elba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elba in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Elba can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Elba?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.