Elenie
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "shining light" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Elenie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elenie today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elenie births was 2015 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elenie. 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 Elenie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
2015
13 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,478
Tracked since 1979
Census
Elenie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 190 people with the first name Elenie, which placed it at #39,614 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
#39,614
National first-name rank
People counted
190
190 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elenie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elenie is Hispanic at 42.1%. The next largest groups are White (41.6%) and Black (10.0%). 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 Elenie 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 Elenie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.1% · 80
- White41.6% · 79
- Black or African American10.0% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 12
Popularity
Elenie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elenie from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 55 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elenie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elenie 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 Elenie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elenies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elenie
The name Elenie has its origins in the Greek language and culture, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "helene," meaning "bright one" or "shining light." This name was particularly popular in the regions of ancient Greece and later spread throughout the Byzantine Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elenie can be found in the works of Homer, the renowned ancient Greek poet. In the Iliad, Elenie is mentioned as a beautiful Trojan woman who was admired for her grace and charm. This literary reference suggests that the name has been in use for over two and a half millennia.
During the Byzantine era, the name Elenie gained further prominence and was often associated with nobility and royalty. One notable figure from this period was Elenie Dragaš (1366-1395), a Serbian princess who married Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos of the Byzantine Empire. Her marriage played a significant role in strengthening political alliances between the two empires.
In the Middle Ages, the name Elenie was also popular among the aristocracy of Western Europe. One prominent figure was Elenie of Anjou (1245-1324), a French noblewoman who became the Queen of Serbia through her marriage to King Stefan Uroš I Nemanjić. Her influence and patronage of the arts and culture left a lasting impact on medieval Serbian society.
During the Renaissance period, the name Elenie was embraced by various artists and intellectuals. One notable figure was Elenie Cornaro (1472-1548), a Venetian noblewoman and the last Queen of Cyprus. Her reign was marked by a period of cultural flourishing and artistic patronage on the island of Cyprus.
In more recent times, the name Elenie has been carried by several notable figures, including Elenie Glykatzi-Arveler (1875-1928), a Greek novelist and feminist who played a significant role in promoting women's rights and education in Greece. Another prominent figure was Elenie Akhmatova (1889-1966), a renowned Russian poet and one of the most influential voices of the Silver Age of Russian poetry.
While the name Elenie has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has transcended linguistic and geographic boundaries, appearing in various forms and spellings throughout history. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its beautiful meaning and association with grace, nobility, and artistic expression across different eras and cultures.
People
Elenie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elenie 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
Elenie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elenie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elenie 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Elenie a common name?
We classify Elenie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elenie most popular?
The single biggest year for Elenie was 2015, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elenie is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elenie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 190 people with the name Elenie, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,614 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 Elenie 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 Elenie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elenie appears almost entirely female. Of the 192 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Elenie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elenie is Hispanic at 42.1%. The next largest groups are White (41.6%) and Black (10.0%). 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 Elenie most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elenie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.1% (80 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 Elenie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elenie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elenie 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 Elenie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elenie 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 Elenie 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 called Elenie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.