Boys' name · peaked in 1897
Elmer name popularity since 1925
65,997 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Elmer (1.4% girls, 98.6% boys). Half of them were born in 1939 or earlier, so the typical Elmer is about 87 years old in 2026. Elmer peaked in 1897 as the #34 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 65,997
- Named Elmer, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1897
- #34 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,223 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.6% boys
- 892 girls · 65,105 boys
- Most popular in
- North Dakota
- 3.14× its national share
Peak year is the year Elmer made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Elmer births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Elmer peaked earlier, in 1897.
- Steepest fall: Between 2003 and 2008, Elmer's share of baby boys fell by 43%, from 1 in 6,430 to 1 in 11,200.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Elmer's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Elmer.
Decade by decade
Babies named Elmer in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 283 | 15,468 | – |
| 1930s | 315 | 17,371 | #115 |
| 1940s | 155 | 10,879 | #169 |
| 1950s | 93 | 6,881 | #261 |
| 1960s | 36 | 3,833 | #405 |
| 1970s | 5 | 2,137 | #590 |
| 1980s | 5 | 1,567 | #754 |
| 1990s | 0 | 2,104 | #738 |
| 2000s | 0 | 2,274 | #826 |
| 2010s | 0 | 1,639 | #1,206 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 952 | #1,223 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
46.3% of babies named Elmer from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Elmer is most popular
The index compares Elmer's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Elmer.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 3.14× | 614 |
| Kentucky | 3.13× | 3,249 |
| West Virginia | 2.58× | 1,406 |
| Oklahoma | 2.31× | 1,865 |
| Arkansas | 2.22× | 1,416 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Elmer's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Elmer.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Elmer (1897).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data