Girls' name · peaked in 1901
Elva name popularity since 1925
17,171 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Elva (97.3% girls, 2.7% boys). Half of them were born in 1945 or earlier, so the typical Elva is about 81 years old in 2026. Elva peaked in 1901 as the #161 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 17,171
- Named Elva, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1901
- #161 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,665 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 97.3% girls
- 16,706 girls · 465 boys
- Most popular in
- Texas
- 3.63× its national share
Peak year is the year Elva made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Elva births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Elva peaked earlier, in 1901.
- Steepest fall: Between 1939 and 1944, Elva's share of baby girls fell by 36%, from 1 in 3,290 to 1 in 5,140.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Elva's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Elva.
Decade by decade
Babies named Elva in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 2,855 | 103 | – |
| 1930s | 3,794 | 160 | #329 |
| 1940s | 2,698 | 114 | #464 |
| 1950s | 2,282 | 64 | #585 |
| 1960s | 1,508 | 14 | #804 |
| 1970s | 988 | 5 | #1,085 |
| 1980s | 754 | 5 | #1,745 |
| 1990s | 652 | 0 | #2,524 |
| 2000s | 472 | 0 | #3,757 |
| 2010s | 461 | 0 | #3,550 |
| 2020–25 | 242 | 0 | #3,665 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
39.7% of babies named Elva from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Elva is most popular
The index compares Elva'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 Elva.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 3.63× | 3,815 |
| West Virginia | 2.65× | 313 |
| Kentucky | 2.00× | 450 |
| Pennsylvania | 1.57× | 1,072 |
| California | 1.46× | 2,075 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Elva's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Elva.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Elva (1901).
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