How popular is the baby name Elena in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Elena.

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Popularity of the baby name Elena


Posts that mention the name Elena

Popular baby names in the United States, 2024

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

Earlier today, the SSA released the 2024 U.S. baby name data. The top two names in the nation are Olivia and Liam, yet again.

Here are the new top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 14,718 baby girls
  2. Emma, 13,485
  3. Amelia, 12,740
  4. Charlotte, 12,552
  5. Mia, 12,113
  6. Sophia, 12,088
  7. Isabella, 10,770
  8. Evelyn, 9,116
  9. Ava, 8,662
  10. Sofia, 8,094

Boy names

  1. Liam, 22,164 baby boys
  2. Noah, 20,337
  3. Oliver, 15,343
  4. Theodore, 12,011
  5. James, 11,793
  6. Henry, 11,547
  7. Mateo, 11,302
  8. Elijah, 11,171
  9. Lucas, 10,703
  10. William, 10,596

In the girls’ top 10, Sofia replaced Luna.

The boys’ top 10 consists of the same ten names.

Here are the rest of the names in the top 50 (for both genders):

RankGirl namesBoy names
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50		Camila, 7,608
Harper, 7,370
Luna, 7,135
Eleanor, 7,127
Violet, 6,972
Aurora, 6,917
Elizabeth, 6,878
Eliana, 6,423
Hazel, 6,401
Chloe, 6,385
Ellie, 6,306
Nora, 6,128
Gianna, 6,097
Lily, 6,093
Emily, 5,955
Aria, 5,935
Scarlett, 5,894
Penelope, 5,741
Zoe, 5,719
Ella, 5,685
Avery, 5,632
Abigail, 5,499
Mila, 5,472
Lucy, 5,396
Isla, 5,367
Ivy, 5,323
Layla, 5,305
Lainey, 5,147
Nova, 5,044
Grace, 5,002
Willow, 4,653
Riley, 4,644
Emilia, 4,634
Naomi, 4,605
Elena, 4,567
Madison, 4,563
Valentina, 4,438
Victoria, 4,267
Stella, 4,264
Delilah, 4,240		Benjamin, 9,814
Levi, 9,513
Ezra, 8,774
Sebastian, 8,562
Jack, 8,434
Daniel, 8,391
Samuel, 8,310
Michael, 8,189
Ethan, 8,170
Asher, 8,123
John, 8,047
Hudson, 7,990
Luca, 7,959
Leo, 7,793
Elias, 7,653
Owen, 7,574
Alexander, 7,517
Dylan, 7,464
Santiago, 7,407
Julian, 7,368
David, 7,317
Joseph, 7,223
Matthew, 7,078
Luke, 7,039
Jackson, 6,876
Maverick, 6,615
Miles, 6,611
Wyatt, 6,581
Thomas, 6,576
Isaac, 6,498
Jacob, 6,496
Mason, 6,471
Gabriel, 6,379
Anthony, 6,326
Carter, 6,267
Logan, 6,267
Aiden, 6,243
Grayson, 6,211
Caleb, 5,766
Cooper, 5,699

Here’s more from the SSA’s news release:

Each year, the list also reveals the names that increased the most in popularity. Among those rising in popularity for girls, Ailany, which means ‘chief’, topped the list. The boys’ name Truce, which means ‘peace’, rose an incredible 11,118 spots from last year’s position, cracking the top 1,000 at number 991 overall.

Interestingly — and, as this quote kind of implies — the SSA’s Change in Popularity page now covers ranking differences across all the data (not just differences within the top 1,000).

I’ll write more posts about the new names over the next few days…

Sources: Popular Baby Names – SSA, Olivia and Liam Remain Most Popular Baby Names for 2024

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United States (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Sonoma County (California), 2024

Flag of California
Flag of California

Last year, the California county of Sonoma welcomed about 2,500 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Liam for boys and a three-way tie between Amelia, Camila, and Mia for girls.

Here are Sonoma’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Amelia, 13 baby girls (3-way tie)
  2. Camila, 13 (3-way tie)
  3. Mia, 13 (3-way tie)
  4. Emma, 12
  5. Charlotte, 11
  6. Luna, 10 (tie)
  7. Scarlett, 10 (tie)
  8. Charlie, 8 (6-way tie)
  9. Elena, 8 (6-way tie)
  10. Eliana, 8 (6-way tie)
  11. Gianna, 8 (6-way tie)
  12. Lucy, 8 (6-way tie)
  13. Valentina, 8 (6-way tie)
  14. Grace, 7 (9-way tie)
  15. Isabella, 7 (9-way tie)
  16. Isla, 7 (9-way tie)
  17. Lucia, 7 (9-way tie)
  18. Madison, 7 (9-way tie)
  19. Maya, 7 (9-way tie)
  20. Natalia, 7 (9-way tie)
  21. Quinn, 7 (9-way tie)
  22. Sophia, 7 (9-way tie)
  23. Ava, 6 (15-way tie)
  24. Ella, 6 (15-way tie)
  25. Evelyn, 6 (15-way tie)
  26. Hazel, 6 (15-way tie)
  27. Layla, 6 (15-way tie)
  28. Leah, 6 (15-way tie)
  29. Lillian, 6 (15-way tie)
  30. Olivia, 6 (15-way tie)
  31. Riley, 6 (15-way tie)
  32. River, 6 (15-way tie)
  33. Ruby, 6 (15-way tie)
  34. Sofia, 6 (15-way tie)
  35. Victoria, 6 (15-way tie)
  36. Violet, 6 (15-way tie)
  37. Willow, 6 (15-way tie)
  38. Amari, 5 (7-way tie)
  39. Genesis, 5 (7-way tie)
  40. Hannah, 5 (7-way tie)
  41. Harper, 5 (7-way tie)
  42. Itzel, 5 (7-way tie)
  43. Penelope, 5 (7-way tie)
  44. Sophie, 5 (7-way tie)
  45. Amaya, 4 (19-way tie)
  46. Ariel, 4 (19-way tie)
  47. Athena, 4 (19-way tie)
  48. Aubrey, 4 (19-way tie)
  49. Cecilia, 4 (19-way tie)
  50. Emery, 4 (19-way tie)
  51. Georgia, 4 (19-way tie)
  52. Hadley, 4 (19-way tie)
  53. Jade, 4 (19-way tie)
  54. Josephine, 4 (19-way tie)
  55. Kimberly, 4 (19-way tie)
  56. Leilani, 4 (19-way tie)
  57. Lia, 4 (19-way tie)
  58. Lily, 4 (19-way tie)
  59. Maeve, 4 (19-way tie)
  60. Mila, 4 (19-way tie)
  61. Nevaeh, 4 (19-way tie)
  62. Sienna, 4 (19-way tie)
  63. Zoey, 4 (19-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Liam, 22 baby boys
  2. Sebastian, 17
  3. Noah, 14
  4. James, 13 (tie)
  5. Santiago, 13 (tie)
  6. Dylan, 12 (tie)
  7. Mateo, 12 (tie)
  8. Damian, 11 (tie)
  9. Luca, 11 (tie)
  10. Ivan, 10 (3-way tie)
  11. Julian, 10 (3-way tie)
  12. Leo, 10 (3-way tie)
  13. Ethan, 9 (5-way tie)
  14. Mason, 9 (5-way tie)
  15. Miles, 9 (5-way tie)
  16. Theodore, 9 (5-way tie)
  17. William, 9 (5-way tie)
  18. Angel, 8 (3-way tie)
  19. Christian, 8 (3-way tie)
  20. Lucas, 8 (3-way tie)
  21. Adriel, 7 (9-way tie)
  22. Asher, 7 (9-way tie)
  23. Emiliano, 7 (9-way tie)
  24. Hudson, 7 (9-way tie)
  25. Jackson, 7 (9-way tie)
  26. John, 7 (9-way tie)
  27. Joshua, 7 (9-way tie)
  28. Levi, 7 (9-way tie)
  29. Logan, 7 (9-way tie)
  30. Benjamin, 6 (9-way tie)
  31. Cameron, 6 (9-way tie)
  32. Emilio, 6 (9-way tie)
  33. Henry, 6 (9-way tie)
  34. Jaxon, 6 (9-way tie)
  35. Jesus, 6 (9-way tie)
  36. Jonathan, 6 (9-way tie)
  37. Lorenzo, 6 (9-way tie)
  38. Roman, 6 (9-way tie)
  39. Adrian, 5 (19-way tie)
  40. Alejandro, 5 (19-way tie)
  41. Bodhi, 5 (19-way tie)
  42. Cooper, 5 (19-way tie)
  43. David, 5 (19-way tie)
  44. Dean, 5 (19-way tie)
  45. Diego, 5 (19-way tie)
  46. Javier, 5 (19-way tie)
  47. Leonardo, 5 (19-way tie)
  48. Luke, 5 (19-way tie)
  49. Matteo, 5 (19-way tie)
  50. Michael, 5 (19-way tie)
  51. Milan, 5 (19-way tie)
  52. Oliver, 5 (19-way tie)
  53. Owen, 5 (19-way tie)
  54. Ryan, 5 (19-way tie)
  55. Ryder, 5 (19-way tie)
  56. Waylon, 5 (19-way tie)
  57. Wyatt, 5 (19-way tie)

And here’s a sampling of the many names that were bestowed just once in Sonoma last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Alitzel, Brithany, Clary, Daylin, Erandi, Frida, Gielah, Hera, Iana, Janellie, Kalia, Leeba, Marbie, Nevayla, Olema, Ponderosa, Quincy, Roshi, Salacia, Souvenir, Spider Gwen, Trillium, Upsana, Vaila, Wilma, Xiamara, Yanis, ZulaAiram, Branimir, Cinco, Court, Divaldo, Dorje, Essiel, Fidel, Gabino, Heriberto, Isai, Jesiah, Kipono, Laszlo, Macklin, Nelson, Ove, Percival, Quinlan, Rifton, Sylo, Tanjiro, Uriah, Viliamu, Wiley, Xiveer, Yariel, Zaelyn

Some possible explanations/influences for a few of the above:

  • Airam is “Maria” spelled backwards.
  • Cinco is the Spanish word for “five.”
  • Dorje is a Tibetan name that refers to a diamond, a thunderbolt, “or an indestructible phenomenon.” (Its literal translation is “lord of stone.”)
  • Erandi is the Purépecha word for “dawn.”
  • Ponderosa is a type of North American pine tree (Pinus ponderosa). The name refers to the tree’s heavy (or “ponderous”) wood.
  • Salacia was the Roman goddess of saltwater. Her name is based on sal, the Latin word for “salt.”
  • Spider-Gwen is the fan-created nickname of comic book character Spider-Woman (a.k.a. Gwen Stacy).
  • Trillium is a type of flower with three petals and three sepals.
  • Viliamu is the Samoan form of William.

Finally, here are Sonoma’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)

Popular baby names in Arizona, 2024

Flag of Arizona
Flag of Arizona

The state of Arizona will likely welcome more than 77,000 babies in 2024.

What will the top baby names of the year be? Olivia and Liam, according to provisional data released in late December, 2024, by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Here are Arizona’s projected top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia
  2. Emma
  3. Isabella
  4. Sophia
  5. Amelia
  6. Mia
  7. Camila
  8. Charlotte
  9. Sofia
  10. Luna
  11. Evelyn
  12. Aurora
  13. Aria
  14. Violet
  15. Ava
  16. Gianna
  17. Penelope
  18. Eliana
  19. Elena
  20. Ellie
  21. Valentina
  22. Hazel
  23. Layla
  24. Mila
  25. Lily
  26. Emily
  27. Harper
  28. Ivy
  29. Scarlett
  30. Chloe
  31. Emilia
  32. Leilani
  33. Delilah
  34. Eleanor
  35. Elizabeth
  36. Victoria
  37. Nora
  38. Avery
  39. Maria
  40. Abigail
  41. Nova
  42. Ella
  43. Madison
  44. Liliana
  45. Grace
  46. Daisy
  47. Natalia
  48. Genesis
  49. Athena
  50. Maya

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Mateo
  4. Sebastian
  5. Oliver
  6. Elijah
  7. Alexander
  8. Benjamin
  9. Daniel
  10. Julian
  11. Santiago
  12. Michael
  13. James
  14. Ethan
  15. Aiden
  16. David
  17. Angel
  18. Logan
  19. Mason
  20. Jacob
  21. Ezra
  22. Gabriel
  23. William
  24. Adrian
  25. Isaac
  26. Levi
  27. Anthony
  28. Lucas
  29. Joseph
  30. Ezekiel
  31. Wyatt
  32. Elias
  33. Luke
  34. Samuel
  35. Jose
  36. Henry
  37. Isaiah
  38. Jackson
  39. Matthew
  40. Jayden
  41. Jesus
  42. Luis
  43. Jack
  44. Theodore
  45. Dylan
  46. Carter
  47. Owen
  48. Andrew
  49. Lincoln
  50. Grayson

In the girls’ top 10, Sofia replaced Evelyn.

In the boys’ top 10, Alexander, Daniel, and Julian replaced Santiago, Ezra, and Levi.

And Juniper, which was the #1 girl name in Arizona’s Coconino County in 2022, only managed to rank 90th state-wide in 2024.

If you’d like to see Arizona’s projected rankings for 2023, you can find them in this post.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Arizona (public domain)

Popular baby names in Italy, 2023

Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy

In 2023, the Southern European country of Italy welcomed 379,890 babies — 184,514 girls and 195,376 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leonardo, yet again.

Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Sofia, 4,971 baby girls
  2. Aurora, 4,648
  3. Ginevra, 4,274
  4. Vittoria, 4,194
  5. Giulia, 3,732
  6. Beatrice, 3,425 – pronounced beh-a-TREE-cheh
  7. Ludovica, 3,157
  8. Alice, 3,014 – pronounced a-LEE-cheh
  9. Emma, 2,529
  10. Matilde, 2,465
  11. Anna, 2,128
  12. Camilla, 2,091
  13. Bianca, 1,992
  14. Azzurra, 1,922
  15. Chiara, 1,914 – pronounced KYAH-rah
  16. Nicole, 1,792
  17. Giorgia, 1,780
  18. Isabel, 1,667
  19. Greta, 1,635
  20. Noemi, 1,439
  21. Martina, 1,392
  22. Arianna, 1,389
  23. Gaia, 1,370
  24. Sara, 1,368
  25. Rebecca, 1,328
  26. Viola, 1,325
  27. Elena, 1,270
  28. Ambra, 1,257
  29. Chloe, 1,196 (tie)
  30. Diana, 1,196 (tie)
  31. Adele, 1,194
  32. Mia, 1,192
  33. Margherita, 1,095
  34. Sole, 1,088 – pronounced SOH-leh
  35. Francesca, 1,082
  36. Cecilia, 1,060
  37. Gioia, 1,018
  38. Emily, 1,017
  39. Marta, 964
  40. Elisa, 953
  41. Nina, 929
  42. Lavinia, 912
  43. Anita, 875
  44. Amelia, 870
  45. Eleonora, 853
  46. Carlotta, 833
  47. Maria, 803
  48. Celeste, 788
  49. Eva, 751
  50. Giada, 735

Boy names

  1. Leonardo, 7,096 baby boys
  2. Edoardo, 5,603
  3. Tommaso, 4,687
  4. Francesco, 4,534
  5. Alessandro, 4,383
  6. Mattia, 4,349
  7. Lorenzo, 4,006
  8. Gabriele, 3,954
  9. Riccardo, 3,600
  10. Andrea, 3,333
  11. Diego, 2,722
  12. Giuseppe, 2,661
  13. Matteo, 2,648
  14. Enea, 2,564
  15. Nicolò, 2,444
  16. Antonio, 2,424
  17. Federico, 2,313
  18. Giovanni, 2,093
  19. Filippo, 2,046
  20. Samuele, 2,041
  21. Pietro, 1,993
  22. Giulio, 1,749
  23. Gioele, 1,641 – pronounced jo-EH-leh
  24. Davide, 1,597
  25. Michele, 1,590
  26. Christian, 1,541
  27. Elia, 1,522
  28. Gabriel, 1,497
  29. Noah, 1,386
  30. Marco, 1,353
  31. Salvatore, 1,324
  32. Liam, 1,236
  33. Luca, 1,230
  34. Vincenzo, 1,211
  35. Thomas, 1,146
  36. Emanuele, 1,100
  37. Alessio, 1,056
  38. Nathan, 1,007
  39. Giorgio, 1,006
  40. Samuel, 1,005
  41. Jacopo, 1,002
  42. Giacomo, 1,000
  43. Ettore, 970
  44. Raffael, 900
  45. Daniele, 899
  46. Simone, 892
  47. Luigi, 886
  48. Damiano, 830
  49. Domenico, 818
  50. Santiago, 798

The girls’ top 100 included Anastasia (57th), Sveva (75th), Mariasole (83rd), and Letizia (97th).

The boys’ top 100 included Ludovico (56th), Niccolò (66th), Brando (73rd), and Ciro (94th).

The girl name Azzurra (which is associated with Italy’s national soccer team gli Azzurri, “the Blues”) ranked 20th in both 2022 and 2021 before jumping to 12th place last year.

Speaking of soccer…I recently learned that Italian soccer star Francesco Totti (who played for AS Roma from 1993 to 2017) influenced baby names in Italy via the names of his three children:

  • The usage of Cristian rose after his son Cristian was born in November of 2005:
    • 2006: 3,028 boys named Cristian (rank: 25th)
    • 2005: 1,619 boys named Cristian (rank: 39th)
    • 2004: 1,616 boys named Cristian (rank: 38th)
  • The usage of Chanel rose after his daughter Chanel was born in May of 2007:
    • 2008: 158 girls named Chanel (rank: 189th)
    • 2007: 63 girls named Chanel (rank: 314th)
    • 2006: fewer than five girls named Chanel
  • The usage of Isabel rose after his daughter Isabel was born in March of 2016:
    • 2017: 1,218 girls named Isabel (rank: 36th)
    • 2016: 910 girls named Isabel (rank: 50th)
    • 2015: 570 girls named Isabel (rank: 69th)

Sources: Contanomi – Quante bambine e quanti bambini si chiamano…? – Istat, Leonardo e Sofia “tengono”, risale Francesco – Istat (Jan. 2024), IstatData

Image: Adapted from Flag of Italy (public domain)