Elvis
A masculine given name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from an Old Norse name element "Olvis".
Name Census estimates that about 14,621 living Americans carry the first name Elvis. It is a predominantly male name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Elvis today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elvis births was 1957 (618 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elvis. 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 Elvis with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Elvis is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 152 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 23,443 Americans
Peak year
1957
618 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,169
Tracked since 1881
Census
Elvis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 18,502 people with the first name Elvis, which placed it at #1,679 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
#1,679
National first-name rank
People counted
19K
18,502 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
55.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elvis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elvis is Hispanic at 55.9%. The next largest groups are White (20.0%) and Black (16.4%). 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 Elvis 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 Elvis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino55.9% · 10,342
- White20.0% · 3,702
- Black or African American16.4% · 3,040
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 948
- Two or more races1.5% · 280
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 190
Gender
Gender distribution for Elvis
Out of the 17,976 babies given the name Elvis since 1880, 99.2% 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.
Elvis as a male name
- Ranked #1,169 in 2024
- 177 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (605 births)
Elvis as a female name
- Ranked #16,097 in 2007
- 6 female births in 2007
- Peak: 1957 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elvis leans strongly male. 18,167 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 339 female bearers (1.8%).
Popularity
Elvis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elvis from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,936 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elvis 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 Elvis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elvis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Elvis, while Alaska, South Dakota, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 360 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elvis
The name Elvis is of Old English origin, derived from the word "aelfwine," which means "elf friend." The name was popular in medieval England and was often spelled as "Alvis" or "Alvys." It is believed to have originated around the 7th or 8th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Elvis can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Aluuinus," which was a common spelling variation at the time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Elvis. One of the earliest was Elvis the Bald (c. 810-884), a Frankish monk and scholar who wrote extensively on grammar and theology. Another early figure was Elvis of Munster (c. 1000-1058), an Irish abbot and saint who founded several monasteries in Ireland.
In more recent times, the name gained widespread recognition due to the legendary American singer and actor Elvis Presley (1935-1977). Presley, often referred to as "The King of Rock and Roll," was a cultural icon whose influence on popular music and fashion was immense. His impact on the entertainment industry and popular culture cannot be overstated.
Other notable individuals with the name Elvis include Elvis Grbac (born 1970), a former American football quarterback who played in the NFL from 1994 to 2001, and Elvis Costello (born 1954), the British singer-songwriter known for hits like "Alison" and "Veronica."
Additionally, Elvis Stojko (born 1972) is a Canadian figure skater and two-time Olympic silver medalist, while Elvis Mitchell (born 1956) is an American film critic and former host of the public radio show "The Treatment."
Notable bearers
Famous people named Elvis
People
Elvis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elvis 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
Elvis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elvis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,621 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elvis 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 23,443 US residents.
Is Elvis a common name?
We classify Elvis as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,976 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elvis most popular?
The single biggest year for Elvis was 1957, when 618 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elvis is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elvis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 18,502 people with the name Elvis, or 6.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,679 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 Elvis 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 Elvis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elvis leans strongly male. 18,167 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 339 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Elvis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elvis is Hispanic at 55.9%. The next largest groups are White (20.0%) and Black (16.4%). 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 Elvis most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elvis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.9% (10,342 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 Elvis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elvis a male name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Elvis 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 Elvis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elvis 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 Elvis 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 common is the name Elvis?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Elvis at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.