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 Romania, 2016

Flag of Romania
Flag of Romania

According to data from the government of Romania, the most popular baby names in the country last year were Maria and Andrei.

Here are Romania’s top girl names and top boy names of 2016:

Girl names

  1. Maria
  2. Elena
  3. Ioana
  4. Andreea

Boy names

  1. Andrei
  2. David
  3. Alexandru
  4. Stefan

One of my sources quoted Romanian sociologist Alfred Bulai as saying that the Russian baby name Nadia — otherwise rare in Romania — saw a big spike in usage in the ’70s thanks to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci.

A law enacted in 2009 prohibits Romanian parents from bestowing baby names that are defamatory, “ridiculous,” or that refer to objects or places.

Sources: Numele de sfinti ramân preferatele românilor – Digi24, Which are the most popular baby names in Romania? – Romania-Insider.com

Image: Adapted from Flag of Romania (public domain)

Popular baby names in Austria, 2015

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Flag of Austria

According to data released in December of 2016 by Statistics Austria, the most popular baby names in the country in 2015 were Anna (and variants) and Lukas (and variants).

Here are Austria’s top 10 girl name-groups and top 10 boy name-groups of 2015:

Girl Names

  1. Anna (21 variants, including Ann, Hannah, Yahna)
  2. Sophie (12 variants, including Sophia)
  3. Maria (36 variants, including Merry, Moira, Miriam)
  4. Emilia (14 variants)
  5. Elena (40 variants, including Elaine, Helen, Ilijana)
  6. Emma (1 variant)
  7. Lena (8 variants)
  8. Sarah (9 variants)
  9. Mia (2 variants)
  10. Laura (1 variant)

Boy Names

  1. Lukas (11 variants, including Luc)
  2. David (12 variants)
  3. Jakob (20 variants, including Giacomo, Jaime, Tiago)
  4. Elias (31 variants, including Ilian)
  5. Maximilian (9 variants)
  6. Alexander (32 variants, including Alejandro, Alistair, Iskender)
  7. Jonas (12 variants)
  8. Paul (7 variants, including Pablo)
  9. Tobias (3 variants)
  10. Leon (7 variants, including Levon)

The #1 name-groups were the same in 2014. There are no new entries on either top 10 list.

Source: Anna und Lukas sind die beliebtesten Babynamen 2015 (found via Popularity of Names in Austria, 2015)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)

Popular baby names in Bulgaria, 2016

Flag of Bulgaria
Flag of Bulgaria

According to preliminary data released yesterday by Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute, the most popular baby names in the country in 2016 were Viktoria and Aleksandar.

Here are Bulgaria’s projected top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl names

  1. Viktoria
  2. Maria
  3. Nikol
  4. Raya
  5. Sofia
  6. Aleksandra
  7. Gabriela
  8. Daria
  9. Yoana
  10. Simona

Boy names

  1. Aleksandar
  2. Georgi
  3. Martin
  4. Dimitar
  5. Ivan
  6. Nikola
  7. Viktor
  8. Daniel
  9. Kaloyan
  10. Nikolay

On the boys’ list, Aleksandar replaced Georgi as the #1 name.

The name Kaloyan can be traced back to Tsar Ivan II, who ruled Bulgaria from 1197 to 1207. His nickname, “Kaloyan,” was based on the Greek phrase kalos Ioannes, meaning “handsome John.” In fact, an increasing number of baby boys are being named after the “khans and the kings of the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdom, for example Asparuh, Tervel, Simeon, Samuil, Kaloyan.”

Trendy girl name Krisia isn’t in the top 10, but it was given to 169 baby girls in 2016 (and 222 in 2015) thanks to the influence of Bulgarian child singer Krisia Todorova.

And what are the most common first names in Bulgaria overall?

Female names overall

  1. Maria
  2. Ivanka
  3. Elena
  4. Yordanka
  5. Penka
  6. Daniela
  7. Rositsa
  8. Desislava
  9. Petya
  10. Gergana

Male names overall

  1. Georgi
  2. Ivan
  3. Dimitar
  4. Nikolay
  5. Petar
  6. Hristo
  7. Aleksandar
  8. Stefan
  9. Yordan
  10. Vasil

Interesting entries in the overall top 20 include the female name Rumyana and the male names Stoyan, Atanas (from Athanasius), and Plamen.

Sources: Names in Bulgaria in 2016 (preliminary data) – NSI (PDF), Kaloyan – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Bulgaria (public domain)

Popular baby names in Malta, 2015

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

Malta’s top baby names of 2015 have been out for months now, but the latest data still isn’t available on the government’s Naming Babies page, so I can’t give you the official rankings.

The best I can do is this quote from a recent Times of Malta article:

Amy, Ella, Leah, Maya, Valentina, Emma, Martina, Jade, Julia, Elisa and Elena are among the most popular for girls […] Luca, Matthias, Adam, Ben, Benjamin, Beppe, Alexander, Thomas, Zack, Liam, Luke and Noah are among the most popular for boys.

The article also mentioned many of the less common names bestowed in Malta in 2015, including:

  • Ajson
  • Alix (the Maltese version of Alex)
  • Bitania
  • Carleshian
  • Delyth (“which in Welsh means neat and pretty, but when read with a Maltese pronunciation it means, err, murder”)
  • Ebtisam
  • Izz
  • Jack Daniel (similar to this guy)
  • Kelzen
  • Massa (“after Felipe Massa, the Brazilian Formula One driver”)
  • Massabielle
  • Mixhal (the Maltese version of Michelle)
  • Neymar
  • Roksanda
  • Rancy
  • Shaznolee
  • Thisseanne
  • Tenishia (“after the internationally renowned Maltese DJ duo”)
  • Vuk
  • Xemx (the Maltese word for “sun,” pronounced shemsh)
  • Zashielle
  • Zeshinzer

Malta’s top names of 2014 were Elena and Luke (more or less).

Source: “Hi, Jack Daniel, It’s me, Xemx – Malta’s list of baby names.” Times of Malta 31 Mar. 2016.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)