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 Croatia, 2022

Flag of Croatia
Flag of Croatia

Crescent-shaped Croatia is located on the Balkan peninsula. It shares land borders with five other countries: Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

Last year, Croatia welcomed 34,414 babies — 16,904 girls and 17,510 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Mia and Luka, yet again.

Here are Croatia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl names

  1. Mia, 452 baby girls
  2. Lucija, 371
  3. Nika, 370
  4. Mila, 365
  5. Ema, 351
  6. Marta, 335
  7. Rita, 333
  8. Sara, 321
  9. Eva, 267
  10. Dora, 253
  11. Ana, 246 (tie)
  12. Elena, 246 (tie)
  13. Iva, 220
  14. Lea, 202
  15. Petra, 200
  16. Klara, 192 (tie)
  17. Tena, 192 (tie)
  18. Lara, 191
  19. Laura, 184
  20. Lana, 182
  21. Hana, 180
  22. Marija, 171
  23. Franka, 170
  24. Ena, 169
  25. Sofia, 159
  26. Leona, 158 (tie)
  27. Maša, 158 (tie)
  28. Una, 139
  29. Nikol, 133
  30. Emili, 130
  31. Magdalena, 128
  32. Lena, 125
  33. Vita, 124
  34. Tia, 121
  35. Tara, 120
  36. Katja, 117
  37. Nora, 110
  38. Karla, 108
  39. Helena, 103
  40. Bruna, 99
  41. Aurora, 98 (tie)
  42. Roza, 98 (tie)
  43. Iris, 96
  44. Cvita, 94 (tie) – a form of the Slovene name Cvetka, based on the Slovene word cvet, meaning “flower, blossom”
  45. Sofija, 94 (tie)
  46. Aria, 91
  47. Mara, 89
  48. Lota, 88
  49. Doris, 85 (tie)
  50. Maris, 85 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Luka, 774 baby boys
  2. Jakov, 478
  3. David, 474
  4. Petar, 427
  5. Ivan, 408
  6. Roko, 365 – a form of Rocco
  7. Mateo, 354
  8. Fran, 347
  9. Niko, 328
  10. Matej, 318
  11. Mihael, 312
  12. Josip, 306
  13. Toma, 305
  14. Leon, 293
  15. Lovro, 286
  16. Noa, 282
  17. Filip, 263
  18. Marko, 262
  19. Karlo, 259
  20. Vito, 258
  21. Teo, 256
  22. Ivano, 253
  23. Šimun, 252
  24. Borna, 247
  25. Jan, 229
  26. Lukas, 196
  27. Leo, 187
  28. Gabriel, 184
  29. Ante, 181
  30. Viktor, 170
  31. Nikola, 159
  32. Tin, 153
  33. Adrian, 146
  34. Bruno, 145 (tie)
  35. Liam, 145 (tie)
  36. Toni, 137
  37. Marin, 136
  38. Dominik, 134
  39. Rafael, 126
  40. Oliver, 122
  41. Noel, 114
  42. Emanuel, 111 (tie)
  43. Patrik, 111 (tie)
  44. Duje, 106 – a form of the Ancient Roman name Domnius, ultimately based on the Latin word dominus, meaning “lord, master”
  45. Erik, 102
  46. Maro, 100
  47. Antonio, 98 (tie)
  48. Lovre, 98 (tie)
  49. Vid, 96
  50. Franko, 88

Here’s a link to Croatia’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Statisticki prikaz – Ministarstvo pravosuda i uprave Republike Hrvatske (Document 27 [pdf] specifically), Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Civil ensign of Croatia (public domain)

Popular baby names in Italy, 2022

Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy

The country of Italy — which includes not only the boot-shaped Italian peninsula, but also various Mediterranean islands (including the two largest, Sicily and Sardinia) — shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.

In 2022, Italy welcomed 393,333 babies — 190,493 girls and 202,840 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leonardo, for the fifth year in a row.

Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia, 5,465 baby girls
  2. Aurora, 4,900
  3. Giulia, 4,198
  4. Ginevra, 3,846
  5. Vittoria, 3,814
  6. Beatrice, 3,333 – pronounced beh-a-TREE-cheh
  7. Alice, 3,154 – pronounced a-LEE-cheh
  8. Ludovica, 3,103
  9. Emma, 2,800
  10. Matilde, 2,621
  11. Anna, 2,284
  12. Camilla, 2,253
  13. Chiara, 2,120 – pronounced KYAH-rah
  14. Giorgia, 2,089
  15. Bianca, 2,042
  16. Nicole, 2,001
  17. Greta, 1,929
  18. Gaia, 1,736
  19. Martina, 1,729
  20. Azzurra, 1,717
  21. Arianna, 1,560
  22. Sara, 1,542
  23. Noemi, 1,528
  24. Isabel, 1,420
  25. Rebecca, 1,394
  26. Chloe, 1,359
  27. Adele, 1,356
  28. Mia, 1,329
  29. Elena, 1,277
  30. Diana, 1,207
  31. Francesca, 1,145
  32. Ambra, 1,130
  33. Gioia, 1,123
  34. Cecilia, 1,119
  35. Viola, 1,100
  36. Elisa, 1,030
  37. Marta, 1,023
  38. Emily, 1,022
  39. Carlotta, 954
  40. Margherita, 918
  41. Sole, 916 – pronounced SOH-leh
  42. Anita, 879
  43. Maria, 876
  44. Eleonora, 866
  45. Amelia, 861
  46. Alessia, 851
  47. Nina, 831
  48. Luna, 828
  49. Giada, 818
  50. Sophie, 789

Boy Names

  1. Leonardo, 7,888 baby boys
  2. Francesco, 4,823
  3. Tommaso, 4,795
  4. Edoardo, 4,748
  5. Alessandro, 4,729
  6. Lorenzo, 4,493
  7. Mattia, 4,374
  8. Gabriele, 4,062
  9. Riccardo, 3,753
  10. Andrea, 3,604
  11. Diego, 2,824
  12. Nicolò, 2,747
  13. Matteo, 2,744
  14. Giuseppe, 2,735
  15. Federico, 2,563
  16. Antonio, 2,562
  17. Enea, 2,314
  18. Samuele, 2,230
  19. Giovanni, 2,173
  20. Pietro, 2,130
  21. Filippo, 2,018
  22. Davide, 1,830
  23. Giulio, 1,711
  24. Gioele, 1,695
  25. Christian, 1,653
  26. Michele, 1,612
  27. Gabriel, 1,533
  28. Luca, 1,464
  29. Marco, 1,433
  30. Elia, 1,418
  31. Salvatore, 1,417
  32. Vincenzo, 1,353
  33. Liam, 1,269
  34. Thomas, 1,259
  35. Emanuele, 1,220
  36. Noah, 1,200
  37. Alessio, 1,164
  38. Samuel, 1,140
  39. Nathan, 1,112
  40. Giacomo, 1,101
  41. Jacopo, 1,033
  42. Giorgio, 1,025
  43. Simone, 1,014
  44. Ettore, 1,008
  45. Luigi, 999
  46. Manuel, 996
  47. Damiano, 982
  48. Daniele, 930
  49. Domenico, 872
  50. Daniel, 869

I’d like to thank reader Daniele, who not only alerted me that Italy’s rankings came out early this year, but also generously offered explanations for a few of the fastest-rising names: Sole, Soleil, and Sophie.

Sole (Italian for “sun”), which was rarely used in the early 2000s, started picking up steam in the mid-2010s. Last year, it jumped into the top 50 for the first time. Daniele said that Sole’s rise “has been fueled by a few celebrity baby names.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Sole in Italy since 1999
Usage of the baby name Sole in Italy

Sophie and Soleil (French for “sun”) are linked to influencers/TV personalities Sophie Codegoni and Soleil Sorge. Both women participated in the 6th season (2021-2022) of Grande Fratello VIP, which is the celebrity version of Grande Fratello (Italy’s Big Brother).

Graph of the usage of the baby name Sophie in Italy since 1999
Usage of the baby name Sophie in Italy

Soleil Sorge had become famous a few years earlier when she appeared on the 21st season (2016-2017) of the dating reality TV show Uomini e Donne (translation: Men and Women). Her name debuted in the Italian data in 2017:

  • 2022: 474 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2021: 144 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2020: 98 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2019: 104 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2018: 78 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2017: 74 baby girls named Soleil in Italy [debut]
  • 2016: unlisted
  • 2015: unlisted

(Italy’s baby name data — just like the U.S. data — includes only names given to five or more babies per year.)

Thank you so much, Daniele! :)

Other names currently on the rise in Italy include:

  • Luna, Mariasole, Anastasia, Diana, Celeste (girl names)
  • Ludovico, Ethan, Noah, Liam, Achille, Dylan, Enea (boy names)

Finally, here are Italy’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: How many babies are named…? – Istat, Istat Statistics, Soleil Sorge – Wikipedia, Uomini e donne – Italian Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Italy (public domain). Graphs from Istat.

Popular baby names in Austria, 2022

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

The country of Austria, home to nearly 9 million people, is located in Central Europe and shares a border with eight other countries (including Germany, Italy, and Switzerland).

Last year, Austria welcomed 82,627 babies — 40,060 girls and 42,567 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Maximilian.

Here are Austria’s top 25 girl names and top 25 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 659 baby girls
  2. Emilia, 632
  3. Marie, 625
  4. Mia, 593
  5. Anna, 589
  6. Sophia, 549
  7. Laura, 534
  8. Valentina, 525
  9. Lena, 518
  10. Johanna, 502
  11. Lea, 483
  12. Hannah, 467
  13. Leonie, 426
  14. Sophie, 421
  15. Lina, 410
  16. Luisa, 380
  17. Lara, 376
  18. Elena, 362
  19. Ella, 356
  20. Nora, 351
  21. Hanna, 318
  22. Olivia, 310
  23. Magdalena, 309
  24. Helena, 290
  25. Mila, 287

Boy Names

  1. Maximilian, 735 baby boys
  2. Felix, 722
  3. Paul, 708
  4. Jakob, 693
  5. Noah, 671
  6. Elias, 666
  7. David, 636
  8. Jonas, 629
  9. Leon, 616
  10. Lukas, 587
  11. Tobias, 560
  12. Leo, 498
  13. Matteo, 469
  14. Alexander, 468
  15. Fabian, 454
  16. Julian, 446
  17. Valentin, 429
  18. Moritz, 417
  19. Simon, 406
  20. Theo, 399
  21. Luca, 386
  22. Anton, 379
  23. Liam, 352
  24. Raphael, 348
  25. Samuel, 346

The top names in Austria in 2021 were Marie and Paul.

Sources: First names of newborns – Statistics Austria, Atlas der Vornamen – Statistics Austria, Demographic characteristics of newborns – Statistics Austria

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)

Where did the baby name Aleera come from in 2005?

The character Aleera from the movie "Van Helsing" (2004).
Aleera from “Van Helsing“

Happy Halloween! Today let’s look at the name Aleera, which first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2005:

  • 2007: 7 baby girls named Aleera
  • 2006: 8 baby girls named Aleera
  • 2005: 12 baby girls named Aleera [debut]
  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted

What put it there?

The action/gothic horror film Van Helsing, which was released in mid-2004.

Set in Transylvania in the 1880s, the movie and depicted legendary monster-hunter Gabriel Van Helsing (played by Hugh Jackman) battling Dracula and his three brides: Verona, Marishka, and Aleera.

All three vampire-brides were slayed over the course of the film — Marishka first, Verona second, and Aleera third. Because Aleera (played by Spanish actress Elena Anaya) lasted the longest, it seems logical to assume that she had the biggest influence on movie-going audiences.

The name Verona saw a slight rise in usage in 2004, and this could have been due to the film as well. Same with the name Marishka, though the even-steeper rise of Mariska makes me suspect that both names were influenced by SVU actress Mariska Hargitay rather than by Dracula’s bride.

What are your thoughts on the name Aleera? Which of the three brides’ names do you like most?

Sources: Van Helsing – Rotten Tomatoes, Van Helsing (film) – Wikipedia, SSA
Image: Screenshot of Van Helsing