Elfego
A given name of Spanish origin meaning "handsome; elegant".
Name Census estimates that about 75 living Americans carry the first name Elfego. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elfego today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elfego births was 1959 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elfego. 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 Elfego. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
75
~ 1 in 4,570,058 Americans
Peak year
1959
10 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2014 SSA rank
#11,118
Tracked since 1921
Census
Elfego in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 830 people with the first name Elfego, which placed it at #14,239 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
#14,239
National first-name rank
People counted
830
830 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elfego
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elfego is Hispanic at 98.0%. The next largest groups are Black (1.3%) and White (0.5%). 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 Elfego 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 Elfego at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.0% · 813
- Black or African American1.3% · 11
- White0.5% · 4
- Two or more races0.2% · 2
Popularity
Elfego: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elfego from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 30 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elfego 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 Elfego during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elfegos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elfego
The name Elfego has its origins in the Spanish language. It is derived from the Latin name Feligo, which itself comes from the Latin word "felix" meaning "happy" or "fortunate." The name Elfego emerged as a variant spelling in the Spanish language, likely during the Middle Ages.
In the early centuries of the Christian era, the name Feligo was adopted by some Christians, particularly in regions under Roman influence. It was seen as a positive name reflecting the happiness and blessings associated with the Christian faith. Over time, as the name spread to areas with strong Latin roots, such as the Iberian Peninsula, it evolved into various regional spellings including Elfego.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elfego can be found in the 11th century, when a Spanish nobleman named Elfego de Lara (1024-1099) was noted for his military achievements during the Reconquista period. He played a significant role in the Christian reconquest of territories from the Moors in the region of Castile.
Another prominent historical figure with the name Elfego was Elfego Baca (1865-1945), a Hispanic-American lawman and gunfighter from New Mexico. He gained fame for his involvement in several gunfights, particularly the 1884 Frisco Shootout, where he single-handedly held off a group of cowboys for over 30 hours.
In the realm of literature, the name Elfego is associated with the Spanish playwright Elfego de la Alameda (1570-1636), who wrote numerous works for the Spanish Golden Age theater. His plays often explored themes of morality and social commentary.
In the field of religion, Elfego García (1835-1920) was a Mexican Catholic priest and educator who founded several schools and educational institutions in his native country. He was known for his dedication to teaching and promoting education among underprivileged communities.
Another notable figure was Elfego Hernández (1900-1957), a Mexican poet and writer who was part of the Vanguardist movement in Latin American literature. His works explored themes of modernity, identity, and social issues, and he was recognized for his innovative use of language and poetic forms.
People
Elfego + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elfego 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
Elfego: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elfego?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 75 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elfego 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 4,570,058 US residents.
Is Elfego a common name?
We classify Elfego as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 93 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elfego most popular?
The single biggest year for Elfego was 1959, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elfego is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elfego in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 830 people with the name Elfego, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,239 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 Elfego 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 Elfego?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elfego appears almost entirely male. Of the 827 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Elfego?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elfego is Hispanic at 98.0%. The next largest groups are Black (1.3%) and White (0.5%). 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 Elfego most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elfego in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.0% (813 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 Elfego in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elfego a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elfego 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 Elfego still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elfego 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 Elfego 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 Elfego?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.