Elina
A feminine form of the Greek name Helen meaning "bright, shining one".
Name Census estimates that about 5,587 living Americans carry the first name Elina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elina today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elina births was 2024 (358 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elina. 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 Elina with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Elina is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,349 Americans
Peak year
2024
358 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#785
Tracked since 1896
Census
Elina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,772 people with the first name Elina, which placed it at #3,194 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
#3,194
National first-name rank
People counted
6.8K
6,772 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elina is White at 48.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.2%). 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 Elina 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 Elina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.1% · 3,256
- Hispanic or Latino26.4% · 1,790
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.2% · 1,098
- Two or more races5.3% · 357
- Black or African American3.6% · 242
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 29
Popularity
Elina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elina from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,324 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elina 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 Elina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Elina, while Utah, Kansas, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 128 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elina
The name Elina is of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word "helios," meaning "sun." It can be traced back to ancient Greek civilization, where the name was associated with the sun god Helios and the goddess of the moon, Selene.
In Greek mythology, Elina was the name of one of the Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. She was a sea nymph who was believed to personify the concept of the sun's rays reflecting on the ocean's surface.
The earliest recorded use of the name Elina dates back to the 5th century BCE, when it was mentioned in ancient Greek texts and inscriptions. It was a popular name among the Greeks, particularly in the regions of Athens and the Peloponnese.
One of the earliest notable people with the name Elina was Elina of Sparta, a Spartan princess who lived in the 4th century BCE. She was renowned for her beauty and was courted by many suitors from across the Greek world.
In the 2nd century CE, Elina of Alexandria was a renowned philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of geometry. She is believed to have written several treatises on the subject, though most of her works have been lost to time.
During the Byzantine era, Saint Elina of Amasya was a Christian martyr who lived in the 4th century CE. She was venerated for her unwavering faith and her willingness to sacrifice her life for her beliefs.
In the 12th century, Elina of Courtenay was a French noblewoman who married into the royal family of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. She played a significant role in the political affairs of the Crusader states in the Holy Land.
Another notable figure with the name Elina was Elina Hiio, an Estonian writer and translator who lived from 1856 to 1923. She was instrumental in promoting Estonian literature and culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Elina has Greek origins, it has been adopted and used in various cultures around the world, particularly in Europe and parts of the Middle East. Its association with the sun and its historical significance have contributed to its enduring popularity throughout the centuries.
People
Elina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elina 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
Elina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,587 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elina 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 61,349 US residents.
Is Elina a common name?
We classify Elina as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,836 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elina most popular?
The single biggest year for Elina was 2024, when 358 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elina is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,772 people with the name Elina, or 2.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,194 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 Elina 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 Elina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elina appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,769 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Elina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elina is White at 48.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.2%). 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 Elina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.1% (3,256 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 Elina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elina 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 Elina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elina 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 Elina 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 the name Elina?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Elina, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.