Elgie
A masculine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Algernon.
Name Census estimates that about 292 living Americans carry the first name Elgie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 60.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Elgie today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elgie births was 1918 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elgie. 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
- • Elgie sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • The typical person named Elgie is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Elgies were born before 1961.
People living today
292
~ 1 in 1,173,816 Americans
Peak year
1918
44 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1984 SSA rank
#4,839
Tracked since 1884
Census
Elgie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 377 people with the first name Elgie, which placed it at #25,213 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
#25,213
National first-name rank
People counted
377
377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elgie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elgie is White at 52.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Elgie 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 Elgie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.8% · 199
- Black or African American36.1% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 15
- Two or more races3.4% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Elgie
Elgie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,343 total registrations, 814 (60.6%) were male and 529 (39.4%) were female.
Elgie as a male name
- Ranked #5,797 in 1984
- 6 male births in 1984
- Peak: 1918 (32 births)
Elgie as a female name
- Ranked #4,839 in 1949
- 6 female births in 1949
- Peak: 1927 (21 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Elgie on both sides of the split. Of the 380 people counted with this name, 228 were male (60.0%) and 152 were female (40.0%).
Popularity
Elgie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elgie from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 329 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elgie 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 Elgie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elgies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas recorded the most babies named Elgie, while Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elgie
The name Elgie is believed to have originated as a Scottish variant of the Hebrew name Elijah, which means "my God is Yahweh." Historically, the name Elijah was borne by a significant biblical figure, a prophet who lived in the 9th century BC and played a crucial role in the Hebrew scriptures.
While the name Elgie is not as widely known or used as its parent name Elijah, it has been recorded in historical records, particularly in Scotland and parts of Northern England. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elgie can be found in the Scottish census records from the late 18th century, where it was listed as a masculine given name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Elgie. One such person was Elgie Bellenden (1799-1853), a Scottish author and poet who gained recognition for his works on Scottish folklore and tradition. Another notable figure was Elgie Russell (1871-1948), an American lawyer and political figure who served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.
In the field of sports, Elgie Higginbotham (1919-1997) was a professional baseball player who spent several seasons in the Negro Leagues during the 1940s and 1950s. Elgie Tobin (1923-2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks in the 1940s.
Another notable bearer of the name was Elgie Ceccaldi (1906-1994), a French jazz pianist and bandleader who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. He was known for his contributions to the French jazz scene and for his collaborations with renowned musicians of the time.
While the name Elgie has been used throughout history, it remains relatively uncommon in most parts of the world. Its Scottish origins and connections to the biblical name Elijah add a unique layer of significance and historical depth to this intriguing given name.
People
Elgie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elgie 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
Elgie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elgie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elgie 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 1,173,816 US residents.
Is Elgie a common name?
We classify Elgie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,343 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elgie most popular?
The single biggest year for Elgie was 1918, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elgie is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elgie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 377 people with the name Elgie, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,213 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 Elgie 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 Elgie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Elgie on both sides of the split. Of the 380 people counted with this name, 228 were male (60.0%) and 152 were female (40.0%). 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 Elgie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elgie is White at 52.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Elgie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elgie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.8% (199 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 Elgie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elgie a male name?
Yes, 60.6% of people registered as Elgie 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 Elgie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elgie 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 Elgie 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 Elgie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.