Elzena
An uncommon feminine name of undetermined origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Elzena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elzena today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elzena births was 1926 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elzena. 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
- • The typical person named Elzena is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Elzenas were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Elzena. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1926
11 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1962 SSA rank
#6,861
Tracked since 1909
Popularity
Elzena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elzena from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 65 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
Elzena 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 Elzena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elzena
The given name Elzena is a unique and relatively obscure name with an uncertain origin. It's possible that the name is derived from the Germanic root word "ald," meaning "old" or "ancient," combined with the suffix "-zena," which may have been a name-ending used in certain regions. However, there is no definitive historical record to confirm this etymology.
Elzena appears to have been most commonly used in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in areas with Germanic cultural influences. Some scholars speculate that the name may have originated in regions such as modern-day Germany, Poland, or the Czech Republic, but there is no clear evidence to pinpoint its exact birthplace.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Elzena are found in medieval documents from the 13th and 14th centuries. These records often referred to individuals from the lower classes or peasantry, suggesting that the name was not widely used among nobility or royalty during that time period.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Elzena was a German peasant woman named Elzena von Hagen, who lived in the village of Hagen in the late 13th century. Historical records mention her involvement in a land dispute with a local nobleman, but little else is known about her life.
Another notable figure was Elzena Müller, a 16th-century German midwife and herbalist from the town of Nuremberg. She was renowned for her knowledge of medicinal plants and her assistance in childbirth, and she is mentioned in several local records from the 1550s and 1560s.
In the 17th century, there was an Elzena Schulze, a German Lutheran pastor's wife who lived in the town of Wittenberg. She is briefly mentioned in the writings of her husband, Pastor Johannes Schulze, as a devoted wife and mother.
Moving into the 18th century, there is a record of an Elzena Bauer, a Czech-born woman who was a member of a Protestant religious community in Moravia. She is mentioned in the community's records from the 1730s and 1740s.
Finally, one of the more recent historical figures with the name Elzena was Elzena Grimm, a 19th-century German artist and painter from the city of Dresden. Born in 1825, she was known for her landscape paintings and portraits, and her works were exhibited in several galleries in Dresden and Berlin during her lifetime. She passed away in 1901.
While the name Elzena has been relatively uncommon throughout history, these examples demonstrate its sporadic use across various regions and time periods, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe. However, the name's origins and precise meaning remain shrouded in uncertainty, adding to its enigmatic and intriguing nature.
People
Elzena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elzena 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
Elzena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elzena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elzena 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Elzena a common name?
We classify Elzena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 149 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elzena most popular?
The single biggest year for Elzena was 1926, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elzena is about 80 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 Elzena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elzena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elzena 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 Elzena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elzena 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 Elzena 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 Elzena?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Elzena on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.