Elif
A feminine Turkish name derived from the Arabic alphabet.
Name Census estimates that about 1,413 living Americans carry the first name Elif. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elif today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elif births was 2024 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elif. 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 Elif with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Elif is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 242,572 Americans
Peak year
2024
114 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,763
Tracked since 1977
Census
Elif in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,638 people with the first name Elif, which placed it at #8,762 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
#8,762
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,638 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elif
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elif is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Elif 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 Elif at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.1% · 1,493
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 56
- Two or more races3.2% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 30
- Black or African American0.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Elif: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elif from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 589 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
Elif 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 Elif during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elifs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Elif, while Maryland, Washington, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elif
The given name Elif has its origins in the Arabic language. It is believed to have emerged during the 7th century, around the time of the rise of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language and culture across the Middle East and North Africa.
Elif is derived from the Arabic word "alif," which refers to the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. This letter is considered sacred in Islamic tradition and is often used as a symbol of the oneness of God. The name Elif is thought to have been chosen for its association with this sacred letter and its symbolic meaning.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elif can be found in the works of renowned Arab poets and scholars from the 8th and 9th centuries. For example, the famous poet Abu Nuwas (756-814 CE) and the renowned scholar Al-Jahiz (776-868 CE) both mentioned individuals with the name Elif in their writings.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Elif. One of the most famous was Elif Batuman (born 1976), a Turkish-American writer, and academic known for her works on Russian literature and culture. Another notable figure was Elif Shafak (born 1971), a Turkish novelist, essayist, and academic whose works often explore themes of gender, identity, and multiculturalism.
In the field of arts and culture, Elif Çağlar (born 1972) is a prominent Turkish actress and model who has appeared in numerous films and television shows. Elif Öner (born 1972) is a Turkish singer and songwriter who has released several successful albums and is known for her contributions to Turkish pop music.
Going back further in history, Elif Khatun (1190-1233) was a prominent figure in the Seljuk Empire, serving as the wife of Sultan Kaykhusraw I and playing a significant role in the political and cultural life of the empire.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Elif, which has its roots in the rich cultural and linguistic heritage of the Arabic language and the Islamic tradition.
People
Elif + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elif 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
Elif: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elif?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,413 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elif 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 242,572 US residents.
Is Elif a common name?
We classify Elif as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,429 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elif most popular?
The single biggest year for Elif was 2024, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elif is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elif in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,638 people with the name Elif, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,762 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 Elif 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 Elif?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elif leans strongly female. 1,625 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 18 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Elif?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elif is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Elif most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elif in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (1,493 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 Elif in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elif a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elif 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 Elif still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elif 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 Elif 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 have Elif as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.