Elfie
A variant of the name Elfrida, derived from Old English, meaning "elf counsel".
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Elfie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elfie today is around 104 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elfie births was 1914 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elfie. 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 Elfie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Elfie is about 104 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Elfies were born before 1932.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Elfie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1914
17 babies that year
Average age
104
years old
1928 SSA rank
#4,921
Tracked since 1883
Census
Elfie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 177 people with the first name Elfie, which placed it at #41,393 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
#41,393
National first-name rank
People counted
177
177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elfie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elfie is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Elfie 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 Elfie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.0% · 131
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 14
- Black or African American6.2% · 11
- Two or more races1.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Elfie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elfie from the 1880s through to the 1920s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 87 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
Elfie 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 Elfie 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 Elfie
The name Elfie is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Elfe, which is derived from the Old English word "ælf" or the Old Norse word "álfr," both of which refer to the mythological creatures known as elves. The name itself can be traced back to the early medieval period, around the 5th to 8th centuries, when the Anglo-Saxons and Norse peoples inhabited parts of Europe.
While the name Elfie is relatively uncommon in modern times, it has been documented in various historical records throughout the centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where an individual named Elfie is listed as a landowner in the county of Norfolk, England.
In the 12th century, a nun named Elfie is mentioned in the chronicles of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, located in Suffolk, England. This historical reference suggests that the name was in use among religious communities during that time period.
During the 13th century, an English noblewoman named Elfie de Montfort is recorded as having lived in the county of Warwickshire. Her name appears in various legal documents and property records from that era.
In the 16th century, a Scottish woman named Elfie Macgregor is mentioned in the annals of the Clan Macgregor, a prominent Highland clan. Her name is associated with the clan's struggles against the Scottish Crown during the tumultuous period of the Scottish Reformation.
Another notable figure bearing the name Elfie was a Dutch painter from the 17th century, Elfie van der Werff, who was known for her exquisite portraits and still-life paintings. She was born in Rotterdam in 1633 and died in 1707, leaving behind a significant artistic legacy.
While the name Elfie has its roots in ancient Germanic folklore and mythology, it has persisted throughout the centuries, appearing in various historical records and associated with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. These examples showcase the enduring nature of this unique name and its connection to the rich tapestry of human history.
People
Elfie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elfie 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
Elfie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elfie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elfie 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 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Elfie a common name?
We classify Elfie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 316 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elfie most popular?
The single biggest year for Elfie was 1914, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elfie is about 104 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elfie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 177 people with the name Elfie, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,393 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 Elfie 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 Elfie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elfie leans strongly female. 170 people counted with this name were female (94.4%), compared with 10 male bearers (5.6%). 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 Elfie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elfie is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Elfie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elfie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.0% (131 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 Elfie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elfie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elfie 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 Elfie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elfie 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 Elfie 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 Americans are named Elfie?
See how many people share the name Elfie on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.