Elea
Feminine name of Greek origin meaning "shining light" or "sun ray".
Name Census estimates that about 359 living Americans carry the first name Elea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elea today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elea births was 2023 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elea. 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 Elea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
359
~ 1 in 954,747 Americans
Peak year
2023
43 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,124
Tracked since 1983
Census
Elea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 397 people with the first name Elea, which placed it at #24,319 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
#24,319
National first-name rank
People counted
397
397 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elea is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.0%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Elea 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 Elea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.4% · 196
- Hispanic or Latino27.0% · 107
- Black or African American9.6% · 38
- Two or more races7.8% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 25
Popularity
Elea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elea from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 147 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elea 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 Elea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eleas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elea
The name Elea is of Greek origin and has its roots in antiquity. It is derived from the Greek word "elaia," which means "olive tree." The ancient city of Elea, located in southern Italy, was named after the olive groves that thrived in the region.
In Greek mythology, Elea was a nymph associated with the olive tree and its cultivation. She was believed to be the protector of olive groves and was revered by farmers and those who worked with olives. The name Elea was often given to children as a symbol of fertility, prosperity, and connection to nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elea can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides, who hailed from the city of Elea. He lived in the 5th century BCE and was a prominent figure in the Eleatic school of philosophy, which emphasized the importance of logic and reason.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Elea. One such figure was Elea Velicha, a Byzantine princess who lived in the 11th century. She was the daughter of Emperor Romanos III Argyros and played a significant role in the political intrigues of the Byzantine court.
In the field of literature, Elea Adler was a German writer and poet who lived from 1865 to 1925. She was known for her lyrical works that explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
Another notable Elea was Elea Zambelis, a Greek artist who lived from 1919 to 2010. She was renowned for her vibrant abstract paintings and her contributions to the modern art movement in Greece.
Elea Dusán was a Spanish singer and songwriter who gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. She was celebrated for her unique vocal style and her ability to blend traditional Spanish music with contemporary influences.
In the world of sports, Elea Giuffre was an Italian fencer who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. She won a silver medal in the women's team foil event at the 2012 London Olympics.
People
Elea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elea 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
Elea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 359 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elea 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 954,747 US residents.
Is Elea a common name?
We classify Elea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 363 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elea most popular?
The single biggest year for Elea was 2023, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elea is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 397 people with the name Elea, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,319 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 Elea 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 Elea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elea leans strongly female. 376 people counted with this name were female (94.5%), compared with 22 male bearers (5.5%). 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 Elea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elea is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.0%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Elea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (196 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 Elea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elea 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 Elea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elea 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 Elea 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 are named Elea?
Find out how many Americans are named Elea on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.