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
Census
Elchanan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 164 people with the first name Elchanan, which placed it at #43,191 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
#43,191
National first-name rank
People counted
164
164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elchanan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elchanan is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%). 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 Elchanan 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 Elchanan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 153
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 3
- Two or more races1.8% · 3
- Black or African American1.2% · 2
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.
How common was Elchanan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 164 people with the name Elchanan, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,191 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 Elchanan 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 Elchanan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elchanan appears almost entirely male. Of the 160 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Elchanan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elchanan is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%). 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 Elchanan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elchanan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (153 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 Elchanan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
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.
Is Elchanan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elchanan 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 Elchanan 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 Elchanan as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.