Elise
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "God's promise" or "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 64,260 living Americans carry the first name Elise. It sits at #252 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elise today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elise births was 2012 (2,126 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elise. 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 Elise with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Elise is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 66 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
64K
~ 1 in 5,334 Americans
Peak year
2012
2,126 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2017 SSA rank
#252
Tracked since 1880
Census
Elise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 61,120 people with the first name Elise, which placed it at #799 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
#799
National first-name rank
People counted
61K
61,120 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
20.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elise is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Black (6.9%). 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 Elise 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 Elise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.9% · 44,558
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 6,224
- Black or African American6.9% · 4,235
- Two or more races5.4% · 3,300
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 2,563
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 240
Gender
Gender distribution for Elise
Out of the 73,875 babies given the name Elise since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Elise as a male name
- Ranked #12,837 in 2017
- 5 male births in 2017
- Peak: 1989 (10 births)
Elise as a female name
- Ranked #252 in 2024
- 1,266 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (2,121 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elise appears almost entirely female. Of the 61,120 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Elise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elise from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 18,258 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elise remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elise 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 Elise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elises live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Elise, while Wyoming, Vermont, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,331 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elise
The name Elise has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture, stemming from the Greek name "Elisabet," which is a variation of the Hebrew name "Elisheva." The name Elisabet is composed of two elements: "El," meaning "God," and "shava," meaning "oath" or "fullness." The root of the name can be traced back to the biblical figure Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.
In ancient Greek texts and historical records, the name Elisabet was frequently used and held significant meaning. It was associated with the concept of divine oath or divine fullness, reflecting the belief in the power and reverence of the divine. Over time, the name evolved into various forms across different cultures and languages, including Elise, Elizabeth, and Elisabet.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Elise can be found in the medieval period, particularly in French and German literature. During this time, the name was popular among the nobility and upper classes, reflecting its association with elegance and sophistication.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Elise. One prominent example is Elise Reimarus (1735-1805), a German writer and intellectual who contributed to the Enlightenment movement. Another notable Elise was Elise Richter (1865-1943), an Austrian philosopher and academic, known for her pioneering work in women's education and the study of classical philology.
In the realm of music, Elise Polko (1823-1899) was a German writer and composer who made significant contributions to the cultural life of 19th-century Germany. The famous "Für Elise" piano composition, attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven, is believed to have been dedicated to a woman named Elise, though her identity remains a matter of scholarly debate.
In the world of literature, Elise Reclus (1823-1889) was a French geographer, writer, and anarchist philosopher who explored themes of social justice and environmentalism in her works. Another notable figure was Elise Haas (1888-1970), an American philanthropist and art collector who played a significant role in the development of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
While the name Elise has undergone various transformations throughout history, its roots remain deeply embedded in the ancient Greek language and culture. Its enduring popularity and diverse associations reflect the rich tapestry of cultural exchange and the timeless appeal of names with historical significance.
People
Elise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elise 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
Elise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 64,260 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elise 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 5,334 US residents.
Is Elise a common name?
We classify Elise as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 73,875 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elise most popular?
The single biggest year for Elise was 2012, when 2,126 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elise is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 61,120 people with the name Elise, or 20.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #799 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 Elise 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 Elise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elise appears almost entirely female. Of the 61,120 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Elise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elise is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Black (6.9%). 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 Elise most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (44,558 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 Elise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elise a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Elise 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 Elise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elise 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 Elise 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 named Elise?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.