Elka
Of Slavic origin, meaning "evergreen tree" or "elk".
Name Census estimates that about 676 living Americans carry the first name Elka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elka today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elka births was 2015 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elka. 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
676
~ 1 in 507,033 Americans
Peak year
2015
21 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,690
Tracked since 1943
Popularity
Elka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elka from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 161 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elka remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elka 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 Elka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elkas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elka
The name Elka is of Slavic origin, primarily associated with the Czech and Slovak languages. It is a diminutive form of the name Elena, which itself derives from the Greek name Helene, meaning "bright one" or "shining light."
Elka gained popularity in the early medieval period, particularly in regions of modern-day Czech Republic and Slovakia. The name's earliest known usage can be traced back to the 9th century, when it appeared in various historical records and documents from the region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Elka was a noblewoman from the Kingdom of Bohemia, who lived in the 11th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the construction of several churches and monasteries.
In the 13th century, Elka Přemyslovna, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty that ruled Bohemia, gained recognition for her charitable works and her efforts to promote education among the common people.
During the Renaissance period, the name Elka was associated with several prominent female artists and writers. Elka Měšťanská, born in 1502, was a renowned Czech poet and playwright, whose works were widely celebrated for their lyrical beauty and cultural significance.
In the 19th century, Elka Krásná, a Czech painter and art teacher, made significant contributions to the development of modern art education in her country. She was born in 1822 and is remembered for her vibrant portraiture and landscape paintings.
Another notable figure with the name Elka was Elka Čapková, a Czech writer and translator who lived from 1890 to 1968. She was widely respected for her translations of works by renowned authors such as Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Turgenev, and her own literary works focused on themes of social justice and women's rights.
While the name Elka has its roots in the Slavic region, it has also been adopted and adapted in other cultures over time, reflecting the global influence and interconnectedness of names and their histories.
People
Elka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elka 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
Elka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 676 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elka 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 507,033 US residents.
Is Elka a common name?
We classify Elka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 715 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elka most popular?
The single biggest year for Elka was 2015, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elka is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Elka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elka 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.