Elenita
A feminine diminutive form of Helena, meaning "bright" or "shining light" in Greek.
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Elenita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elenita today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elenita births was 1937 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elenita. 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 Elenita. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1937
6 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1985 SSA rank
#11,143
Tracked since 1937
Census
Elenita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,255 people with the first name Elenita, which placed it at #10,559 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
#10,559
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,255 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elenita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elenita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and White (3.5%). 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 Elenita 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 Elenita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander87.1% · 1,093
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 86
- White3.5% · 44
- Black or African American1.2% · 15
- Two or more races1.0% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Elenita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elenita from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 18 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elenita 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 Elenita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elenita
Elenita is a diminutive feminine form of the name Elena, which has its origins in the Greek language. The name Elena is derived from the Greek word "helene," meaning "bright one" or "shining light." It is believed to have been inspired by the Greek mythological figure, Helen of Troy, whose abduction by Paris ignited the Trojan War.
The name Elenita first appeared in regions where Greek influence was strong, particularly in the Mediterranean region and parts of the Byzantine Empire. It gained popularity during the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th centuries.
In the early Christian era, the name Elenita was associated with several notable figures. Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, is one of the most significant historical figures bearing this name. She is credited with discovering the True Cross in Jerusalem during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the early 4th century.
Another notable figure was Elena Cornaro, a Venetian noblewoman who became the last Queen of Cyprus in the late 15th century. Her reign marked the end of the Lusignan dynasty and the transfer of Cyprus to Venetian control.
In Spanish-speaking countries, the name Elenita gained popularity during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. One of the earliest recorded examples is Elenita de Mendoza, a Spanish noblewoman and poet who lived in the 15th century.
During the 16th century, Elenita de Céspedes, a Spanish surgeon and writer, gained recognition for her literary works and her skills as a medical practitioner, despite the societal limitations faced by women at the time.
In the 19th century, Elenita Villamil, a Cuban poet and revolutionary, became a prominent figure in the literary and political circles of her time. She actively participated in the struggle for Cuban independence from Spanish rule.
Throughout history, the name Elenita has been borne by individuals from various cultural backgrounds, reflecting its enduring appeal across different regions and time periods.
People
Elenita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elenita 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
Elenita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elenita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elenita 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Elenita a common name?
We classify Elenita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elenita most popular?
The single biggest year for Elenita was 1937, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elenita is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elenita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,255 people with the name Elenita, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,559 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 Elenita 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 Elenita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elenita appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,258 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 Elenita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elenita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and White (3.5%). 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 Elenita most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Elenita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (1,093 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 Elenita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elenita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elenita 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 Elenita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elenita 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 Elenita 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 share the name Elenita?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.