Elinor
A feminine given name meaning "bright, shining light" or "sun ray".
Name Census estimates that about 6,140 living Americans carry the first name Elinor. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elinor today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elinor births was 1920 (656 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elinor. 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.
People living today
6.1K
~ 1 in 55,823 Americans
Peak year
1920
656 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,502
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Elinor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elinor from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 5,761 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
Elinor 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 Elinor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elinors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Elinor, while Vermont, Idaho, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 353 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elinor
The name Elinor is derived from the Old French name Eleonor, which in turn comes from the Occitan phrase "alia Elionor" meaning "the other Aenor". Aenor was a Germanic name brought to France by the Normans. Eleonor itself was likely a variation of the Old German name Aganora, meaning "striving for honor".
The popularity of the name is thought to have been influenced by Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most prominent and influential figures of the Middle Ages. Eleanor (1122-1204) was the Duchess of Aquitaine and later became the Queen Consort of France and then England through her marriages to Louis VII and Henry II.
In the 12th century, the name Elinor began appearing in English records. One of the earliest recorded examples is Elinor of Woodstock (1162-1241), the youngest daughter of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in England during her lifetime.
Another notable Elinor in English history was Elinor of Castile (1241-1290), the first wife of Edward I of England. She played a significant role in the administration of the kingdom during her husband's absence while he was on crusade.
In Scotland, the name was also popular, with one of the most famous bearers being Elinor Oliphant (1631-1669), a noblewoman known for her beauty and wit. She was a celebrated poet and playwright during the reign of Charles II.
Moving forward in history, Elinor Glyn (1864-1943) was a British novelist and scriptwriter who popularized the concept of the "It Girl" in her novel "The Philosophy of Love". Her novels were considered quite risqué for their time and were immensely popular.
Elinor Wylie (1885-1928) was an American poet and author who was highly praised for her lyrical and sensual poetry. She was a member of the literary circle in Greenwich Village, New York, and was deeply influenced by the Imagist movement.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Elinor
People
Elinor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elinor 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
Elinor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elinor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elinor 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 55,823 US residents.
Is Elinor a common name?
We classify Elinor as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,496 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elinor most popular?
The single biggest year for Elinor was 1920, when 656 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elinor is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Elinor a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elinor 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.
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.