ninan.org

Elaine

Girls' name · Mid-century revival

Living in the US
~155,100 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#304 among girls
Births in 2025
1,007 263,543 since 1880
Typical age
70 years, median

Elaine popularity over time

Elaine rank by birth year, 1880–2025Elaine ranked #836 in 1880 and #304 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #42, in 1938.#100#1,000#304best #42 in 193818901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Elaine in 1947 than in any other year — 7,072 of them. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. It has held a top-100 place in 36 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #304 with 1,007 births. Compared with 2015, births are up 2.4×. Year on year the rank improved by 64.

Babies named Elaine per yearPeaks at 7,072 births in 1947.7,072 in 1947018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Elaine?

An estimated 155,100 living Americans are called Elaine. That is out of 263,543 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Elaine?

Median age among living Elaines: 70. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Elaine a mid-century revival name.

Your Elaine

Ages of living people named ElaineHalf of living Elaines are older than 70 and half younger.median 70020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Elaine is most common

Elaine is 1.9× as common in Indiana as it is nationally. Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota follow.

Where Elaine is used more than average5 states use the name Elaine more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 1.7× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: 1.8× the national rateWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: 1.8× the national rateIAIndiana: 1.9× the national rateINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: 1.6× the national rateKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Elaine is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Indiana 224 1.9×
Iowa 92 1.8×
Wisconsin 157 1.8×
Minnesota 152 1.7×
Kansas 80 1.6×

Elaine in England and Wales

ONS recorded 29 births named Elaine in 2025, ranking it #1,133. That is 71% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Elaine comes from

From Old French Elaine, a variant of Elene, cognate to Helen, ultimately from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη. A Celtic origin has also been suggested since the name appears in Arthurian legend. Doublet of Helen.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Elaine

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Elaine Thompson-Herah Jamaican athletics competitor 1992 51
Elaine Chao 18th United States Secretary of Transportation and 24th United States Secretary of Labor 1953 43
Elaine Paige English singer, stage actress and radio presenter 1948 39
Elaine May American screenwriter, film director, actress, and comedian (b. 1932) 1932 36
Elaine Hendrix American actress 1970 29
Elaine Stritch American actress and singer in film, television, and the theatre 1925–2014 28
Elaine Cassidy Irish actress 1979 23
Elaine Pagels American writer 1943 22
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 568 in 1914 to 1,212 in 1915 — 2.1 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Elaine

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Elaine was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/elaine.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).