Elchanan
"God's gracious gift" or "Endowed with grace by God".
Name Census estimates that about 82 living Americans carry the first name Elchanan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elchanan today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elchanan births was 2007 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elchanan. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Elchanan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
82
~ 1 in 4,179,931 Americans
Peak year
2007
7 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,752
Tracked since 1981
Popularity
Elchanan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elchanan from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 29 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elchanan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elchanan 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 Elchanan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elchanans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elchanan
The name Elchanan is a Hebrew name derived from the words "El" meaning God and "chanan" meaning grace or favor. It essentially translates to "God is gracious" or "favored by God". This name has its origins in ancient Israelite culture, dating back to biblical times.
The name Elchanan appears several times in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It is mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:24 as one of David's mighty warriors. Another Elchanan is referenced in 1 Chronicles 3:23-24 as a descendant of King David. The name also appears in the Book of Jeremiah, referring to a different individual.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Elchanan is from the 11th century BCE, referring to an Israelite warrior who fought alongside King David. Elchanan the son of Jair from Bethlehem is mentioned as one of David's mighty men, known for slaying a descendant of the giants.
In the Middle Ages, the name Elchanan was used by various Jewish communities across Europe and the Middle East. One notable bearer of the name was Elchanan ben Isaac Kalir, a renowned Hebrew poet and paytan (liturgical poet) who lived in the 6th or 7th century CE in Byzantine Palestine.
Another famous Elchanan was Elchanan Kalir, a 13th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher from Provence, France. He is known for his contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.
In the 16th century, Elchanan Reubeni was a Jewish traveler and diplomat who claimed to be a prince from the lost tribe of Reuben. He visited various European courts, including that of Pope Clement VII, seeking support for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel.
Elchanan Jeiteles, born in 1773 in Prague, was a notable Hebrew writer and educator. He was one of the pioneers of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement, advocating for the modernization of Jewish education and culture.
Elchanan Zvi Perlman, born in 1835 in Bialystok, was a renowned Talmudic scholar and author of several influential works on Jewish law and ethics. He served as the head of the Yeshiva of Kamenets in Lithuania.
While the name Elchanan has its roots in ancient Israelite culture, it has been used throughout Jewish history and across various communities, reflecting its enduring significance and connection to the concepts of divine grace and favor.
People
Elchanan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elchanan 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
Elchanan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elchanan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 82 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elchanan 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 4,179,931 US residents.
Is Elchanan a common name?
We classify Elchanan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 83 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elchanan most popular?
The single biggest year for Elchanan was 2007, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elchanan is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Elchanan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elchanan 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.
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.