Elof
Derived from Hebrew, a masculine name meaning "He whose God is Jehovah".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Elof. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elof today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elof births was 1915 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elof. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Elof. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1915
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1915 SSA rank
#3,526
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Elof: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Elof 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 Elof during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Elof
The given name Elof has its origins in the Old Norse language, originating from the ancient Norse cultures of Scandinavia during the Viking Age, which spanned from the late 8th century to the late 11th century. The name is a compound derived from the Old Norse elements "el," meaning "all" or "eternal," and "of," meaning "ancestor" or "descent." Thus, the name Elof can be interpreted to mean "descendant of all" or "eternal ancestor."
Elof was a relatively common name among the Norse people, particularly in the regions of present-day Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. It is believed to have been borne by several notable figures in Norse mythology and folklore, although specific references are scarce due to the limited written records from that era.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Elof was a Swedish nobleman named Elof Birgersson, who lived in the 13th century and served as a member of the Privy Council of King Valdemar Birgersson. Another notable bearer of the name was Elof Tegnér, a Swedish poet and former bishop of Växjö, who lived from 1782 to 1846 and is considered one of the most influential figures in Swedish Romantic literature.
In the 16th century, there was a Danish nobleman named Elof Krause, who served as a commander in the Danish-Swedish War of 1657-1658. Another Elof of historical significance was Elof Ternér, a Swedish military officer and cartographer who lived from 1749 to 1826 and is known for his detailed maps of the Swedish provinces.
The name Elof also appears in the records of the Norwegian nobility, with one notable bearer being Elof Tordsson, a Norwegian nobleman and landowner who lived in the 13th century and was involved in the civil wars that plagued Norway during that period.
While the name Elof has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a part of the rich cultural heritage of the Scandinavian nations and serves as a reminder of the ancient Norse societies from which it originated.
People
Elof + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elof 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
Elof: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elof?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elof 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 - US residents.
Is Elof a common name?
We classify Elof as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elof most popular?
The single biggest year for Elof was 1915, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elof is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Elof in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elof a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elof in the SSA data are male. 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 Elof still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elof 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 Elof 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Elof?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.