Elton
English name of uncertain origin, possibly an evolved form of an Old English name.
Name Census estimates that about 10,604 living Americans carry the first name Elton. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Elton today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elton births was 1920 (408 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elton. 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
- • Although Elton is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 200 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 32,323 Americans
Peak year
1920
408 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,074
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Elton
Out of the 21,492 babies given the name Elton since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Elton as a male name
- Ranked #2,074 in 2024
- 72 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (394 births)
Elton as a female name
- Ranked #9,152 in 2021
- 11 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1920 (14 births)
Popularity
Elton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elton 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 3,618 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
Elton 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 Elton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eltons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Elton, while Idaho, Delaware, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 370 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elton
The name Elton is an English masculine given name derived from the Old English words "el" meaning "elder tree" and "tun" meaning "enclosure" or "settlement". It essentially means "elder tree town" or a settlement near an elder tree.
In medieval times, the name was commonly spelled as Elton, Eltun, or Aeltun. It was a locational surname given to someone who lived near an elder tree settlement before becoming an established first name in its own right. The earliest recorded example of the name dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as a place name.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Elton of Beverley, an English Catholic saint who lived in the 11th century. He was a renowned hermit and monk known for his piety and asceticism. Another historical figure with the name was Sir Elton Wood (1592-1670), an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Elton gained popularity among the English gentry and nobility. Notable bearers include Sir Elton Hampden (1588-1634), an English politician and military commander who fought in the English Civil War, and Elton Broughton (1609-1681), an English writer and religious philosopher.
In more recent history, the name has been borne by several prominent individuals, including Elton Dean (1945-2006), an English saxophonist and composer known for his work in the jazz and rock genres, and Sir Elton John (born 1947), the internationally acclaimed English singer, songwriter, and composer.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Elton
People
Elton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elton 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
Elton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,604 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elton 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 32,323 US residents.
Is Elton a common name?
We classify Elton as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,492 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elton most popular?
The single biggest year for Elton was 1920, when 408 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elton is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Elton a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Elton 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.
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.