Elke
A diminutive German form of the feminine name Elizabeth, meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,001 living Americans carry the first name Elke. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elke today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elke births was 1968 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elke. 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 Elke with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 342,412 Americans
Peak year
1968
77 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,347
Tracked since 1953
Census
Elke in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,173 people with the first name Elke, which placed it at #5,427 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
#5,427
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,173 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elke
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elke is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Elke 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 Elke at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.4% · 2,837
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 179
- Black or African American2.1% · 66
- Two or more races1.5% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
Popularity
Elke: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elke from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 354 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elke 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 Elke during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elkes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Elke, while Ohio, Texas, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elke
The name Elke has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically in the Old High German and Old Saxon dialects. It is a diminutive form of the name Ela, which is derived from the Germanic root "alu," meaning "all" or "complete."
The name Elke first appeared in written records dating back to the 8th century AD, during the Carolingian Renaissance period in Europe. It was commonly used in regions that are now parts of modern-day Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Similar spellings like Elka, Elcke, and Elke were also found in historical documents from that era.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elke is in the 9th century manuscript "Heliand," an Old Saxon epic poem that retells the life of Jesus Christ. In this text, Elke is mentioned as a character, although it is uncertain whether it was a real person or a fictional name used in the poem.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Elke. One of the most famous was Elke Sommer, a German actress and former model, born in 1940. She rose to prominence in the 1960s and appeared in numerous films, including "A Shot in the Dark" and "The Prize."
Another notable Elke was Elke Krystufek, an Austrian writer and poet born in 1970. She is known for her experimental prose and poetry, exploring themes of identity, language, and perception. Her works include "Memories of the Body" and "The Void Panorama."
In the world of sports, Elke Nagler, a German gymnast born in 1958, made her mark. She won multiple medals, including gold, at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Elke Büdenbender, born in 1962, is the spouse of the current President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. She is a judge and has been involved in various charitable organizations and initiatives.
Elke Sommers, born in 1955, is a Dutch mathematician and computer scientist. She is known for her contributions to the field of computational geometry and has received numerous awards and honors for her work.
While the name Elke has its roots in ancient Germanic languages, it has maintained a presence throughout history and has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, from artists and athletes to academics and public figures.
People
Elke + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elke 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
Elke: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elke?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,001 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elke 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 342,412 US residents.
Is Elke a common name?
We classify Elke as "Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,107 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elke most popular?
The single biggest year for Elke was 1968, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elke is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elke in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,173 people with the name Elke, or 1.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,427 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 Elke 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 Elke?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elke appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,174 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Elke?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elke is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Elke most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (2,837 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 Elke in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elke a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elke 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 Elke still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elke 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 Elke 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 Elke?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Elke, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.