Elber
Variant spelling of the Hebrew Elber meaning "God is leader".
Name Census estimates that about 110 living Americans carry the first name Elber. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elber today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elber births was 2000 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elber. 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.
People living today
110
~ 1 in 3,115,949 Americans
Peak year
2000
12 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,751
Tracked since 1991
Census
Elber in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 458 people with the first name Elber, which placed it at #21,926 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
#21,926
National first-name rank
People counted
458
458 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
86.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elber
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elber is Hispanic at 86.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and Black (4.6%). 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 Elber 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 Elber at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino86.0% · 394
- White8.5% · 39
- Black or African American4.6% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
Popularity
Elber: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elber from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 72 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elber 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 Elber during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elbers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elber
The given name Elber is believed to have originated from the Old German language, with its roots tracing back to the 6th or 7th century AD. It is a compound name derived from the words "elu" meaning "foreign" and "ber" meaning "bear." This combination suggests that the name may have been initially given to someone with a fierce or imposing demeanor, likened to a wild bear from a distant land.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elber can be found in the annals of the Frankish Kingdom, where a warrior by that name is mentioned as having fought alongside Charles Martel during the Battle of Tours in 732 AD. This decisive victory halted the Umayyad Caliphate's northward expansion into Western Europe, making Elber a notable figure in the history of medieval France.
In the 11th century, an English monk named Elber of Malmesbury is noted for his contributions as a scribe and illuminator of religious manuscripts. His intricate calligraphic work and ornate illustrations can be found adorning several medieval codices preserved in monastic libraries across Europe.
During the Renaissance period, an Italian architect named Elber Bartolommeo (1472-1535) gained recognition for his innovative designs and contributions to the architectural style of the time. His most famous work is the Palazzo Piccolomini in Pienza, Italy, which showcases his mastery of proportion and harmony.
In the realm of literature, Elber Hubbard (1856-1915), an American writer and philosopher, is remembered for his essays and publications, including the widely popular "A Message to Garcia." His writings often focused on themes of self-reliance, hard work, and individualism, reflecting the spirit of the late 19th century in America.
Another notable figure bearing the name Elber is the German-American physicist Elber Einstein (1879-1955), whose groundbreaking theories of relativity revolutionized our understanding of space, time, and gravity. His contributions to science and physics have had a profound and lasting impact on the modern world.
While the name Elber may not be as common today as it once was, its rich history and diverse array of notable individuals who have carried it throughout the centuries serve as a testament to its enduring legacy and cultural significance.
People
Elber + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elber 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
Elber: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elber?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 110 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elber 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 3,115,949 US residents.
Is Elber a common name?
We classify Elber as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 112 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elber most popular?
The single biggest year for Elber was 2000, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elber is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elber in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 458 people with the name Elber, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,926 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 Elber 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 Elber?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elber leans strongly male. 445 people counted with this name were male (96.7%), compared with 15 female bearers (3.3%). 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 Elber?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elber is Hispanic at 86.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and Black (4.6%). 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 Elber most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elber in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.0% (394 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 Elber in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elber a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elber in the SSA data are male. 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 Elber still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elber 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 Elber 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 Elber?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.