Elza
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to Elizabeth.
Name Census estimates that about 756 living Americans carry the first name Elza. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 71.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Elza today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elza births was 1921 (85 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elza. 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 Elza with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Elza started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
756
~ 1 in 453,379 Americans
Peak year
1921
85 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1990 SSA rank
#7,322
Tracked since 1880
Census
Elza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,715 people with the first name Elza, which placed it at #8,455 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
#8,455
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,715 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elza is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Black (13.6%). 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 Elza 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 Elza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.0% · 1,047
- Hispanic or Latino17.2% · 295
- Black or African American13.6% · 233
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 82
- Two or more races2.6% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Elza
Elza is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,934 total registrations, 2,111 (71.9%) were male and 823 (28.1%) were female.
Elza as a male name
- Ranked #7,446 in 1990
- 6 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1922 (68 births)
Elza as a female name
- Ranked #7,322 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (22 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Elza on both sides of the split. Of the 1,703 people counted with this name, 405 were male (23.8%) and 1,298 were female (76.2%).
Popularity
Elza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elza 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 670 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
Elza 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 Elza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elzas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Elza, while Georgia, California, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elza
The name Elza is of Germanic origin, derived from the Old German word "aliz" or "aliza," which means "nobly born" or "from a noble family." It is a feminine form of the name Elias or Elijah, which has Hebrew roots and means "Yahweh is God."
The earliest recorded use of the name Elza dates back to the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, when it was popular among the Germanic and Scandinavian nobility. It was particularly common in regions like Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Elza was Elza von Büren, a German noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was known for her philanthropic efforts and her support for the construction of churches and monasteries in her region.
In the 16th century, another notable Elza was Elza von Pfalz-Simmern, a German princess and the daughter of Duke Johann I of Pfalz-Simmern. She was born in 1537 and played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation, supporting the Lutheran cause and providing protection to reformers in her territory.
During the 17th century, Elza Dorothea von Sachsen-Zeitz, born in 1625, was a German noblewoman and the daughter of Duke Christian I of Saxe-Zeitz. She was known for her artistic talents and her patronage of the arts.
In the 18th century, Elza Margaretha von Anhalt-Dessau, born in 1718, was a German princess and a member of the House of Ascania. She was renowned for her literary works and her support for educational institutions.
Another notable Elza from the 19th century was Elza von Hagenow, a German writer and poet born in 1832. She gained recognition for her poems and short stories, which often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
While the name Elza has its roots in Germanic and Scandinavian cultures, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world over the centuries, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its historical significance and connection to nobility and the arts remain an integral part of its legacy.
People
Elza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elza 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
Elza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 756 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elza 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 453,379 US residents.
Is Elza a common name?
We classify Elza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,934 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elza most popular?
The single biggest year for Elza was 1921, when 85 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elza is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,715 people with the name Elza, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,455 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 Elza 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 Elza?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Elza on both sides of the split. Of the 1,703 people counted with this name, 405 were male (23.8%) and 1,298 were female (76.2%). 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 Elza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elza is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Black (13.6%). 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 Elza most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.0% (1,047 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 Elza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elza a male name?
Yes, 71.9% of people registered as Elza 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 Elza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elza 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 Elza 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 are named Elza?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.