girls' name ★ peaked 1918

Elsie

Gender Girl Rank 2025 #123 Trend ↑ Rising 63%

Elsie is a feminine given name, a diminutive form of Elspeth, a Scottish version of Elizabeth.

Rank 2025
#123
among girls · ↑32 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
2,236
named Elsie · +17% vs 2024
How common
1 in 719
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1918
5,221 babies
All-time total
190,958
#207 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Elsie popularity over time

190,958 babies have been named Elsie since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
2.557.51018801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 6,648 29 6,677 668 – #41
1890s 16,375 81 16,456 1,646 +146% #31
1900s 18,452 103 18,555 1,856 +13% #35
1910s 39,274 197 39,471 3,947 +113% #40
1920s 42,098 230 42,328 4,233 +7% #51
1930s 22,345 168 22,513 2,251 -47% #86
1940s 11,223 62 11,285 1,129 -50% #151
1950s 5,356 16 5,372 537 -52% #294
1960s 2,564 – 2,564 256 -52% #518
1970s 1,295 – 1,295 130 -49% #848
1980s 1,174 – 1,174 117 -9% #1,105
1990s 1,456 – 1,456 146 +24% #1,060
2000s 2,597 – 2,597 260 +78% #680
2010s 9,134 – 9,134 913 +252% #250
2020s (to 2025) 10,081 – 10,081 1,680 +84% #123

Where Elsie is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 2,427 1.51 #114
2027 2,602 1.62 #102
2028 2,760 1.72 #89
2029 2,903 1.81 #87
2030 3,030 1.88 #82

Where Elsie is most popular

Girls named Elsie per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 1.09 per 1,000. Strongest in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Elsie born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
North Dakota 82 6.24 +474%
South Dakota 74 5.18 +377%
Montana 60 4.43 +308%
Idaho 145 4.33 +299%
Nebraska 134 3.73 +243%
Maine 55 3.56 +227%
Minnesota 382 3.54 +226%
Iowa 203 3.47 +220%
Utah 279 3.35 +209%
New Hampshire 58 3.14 +189%
Wisconsin 309 3.00 +176%
Kansas 172 2.98 +175%
Wyoming 12 2.81 +159%
Missouri 313 2.60 +139%
Oregon 159 2.44 +125%
Washington 309 2.14 +97%
Indiana 294 2.09 +93%
Alaska 18 2.09 +93%
Vermont 10 2.06 +90%
Kentucky 166 1.94 +79%
Arkansas 94 1.78 +64%
Tennessee 281 1.77 +63%
West Virginia 46 1.76 +62%
Mississippi 82 1.75 +61%
Pennsylvania 406 1.72 +58%
Ohio 398 1.68 +54%
Colorado 184 1.65 +52%
Michigan 292 1.60 +48%
Virginia 271 1.59 +46%
Oklahoma 104 1.41 +30%
North Carolina 310 1.36 +25%
Illinois 305 1.33 +23%
Alabama 125 1.33 +23%
Nevada 60 1.29 +19%
South Carolina 116 1.29 +19%
Massachusetts 126 1.04 ≈ national
Connecticut 60 1.03 -5%
Maryland 109 1.03 -5%
Georgia 216 0.951 -12%
Arizona 129 0.919 -15%
California 695 0.827 -24%
New Mexico 18 0.740 -32%
New York 253 0.639 -41%
Louisiana 53 0.606 -44%
Texas 433 0.538 -50%
Florida 226 0.528 -51%
New Jersey 94 0.521 -52%
District of Columbia 6 0.506 -53%
Rhode Island 6 0.479 -56%
Delaware 5 0.441 -59%
Hawaii – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Elsie

Elsie is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #123 in 2025 with 2,236 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 190,958 American babies have been named Elsie. Its peak came in 1918, when 5,221 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1910s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Elsie stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Elsie?

The median living Elsie is about 37 years old; half are between 7 and 80. An estimated 47 thousand people named Elsie are alive in the United States today.

median 37 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Elsie year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 2,236 #123 – –
2024 1,910 #155 – –
2023 1,757 #163 – –
2022 1,563 #189 – –
2021 1,345 #222 – –
2020 1,270 #233 – –
2019 1,288 #250 – –
2018 1,192 #278 – –
2017 1,092 #299 – –
2016 981 #340 – –
2015 848 #386 – –
2014 1,005 #334 – –
2013 857 #365 – –
2012 788 #393 – –
2011 621 #479 – –
2010 462 #639 – –
2009 428 #680 – –
2008 405 #739 – –
2007 317 #882 – –
2006 308 #866 – –
2005 271 #918 – –
2004 211 #1,088 – –
2003 182 #1,181 – –
2002 176 #1,167 – –
2001 152 #1,285 – –
2000 147 #1,301 – –
1995 169 #1,060 – –
1990 144 #1,190 – –
1985 131 #1,105 – –
1980 121 #1,125 – –
1975 141 #919 – –
1970 159 #848 – –
1965 253 #611 – –
1960 348 #518 – –
1955 526 #385 – –
1950 689 #294 – –
1945 977 #202 – –
1940 1,466 #151 9 #2,536
1935 2,075 #113 13 #2,065
1930 2,973 #88 20 #1,660
1925 4,146 #63 34 #1,235
1920 4,993 #51 22 #1,660
1915 4,967 #41 19 #1,620
1910 2,141 #44 16 #762
1905 1,811 #40 – –
1900 2,045 #38 15 #654
1895 1,795 #32 9 #753
1890 1,220 #45 8 #767
1885 685 #55 5 #982
1880 301 #78 6 #850

Famous people named Elsie

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Elsie Janis Elsie Janis American actress (1889–1956) 19th century

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Elsie, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Elsie?

The median living Elsie is about 37 years old. Half of all living Elsies are between 7 and 80 years old.

How many people named Elsie are alive today?

An estimated 47 thousand people named Elsie are alive in the United States, based on 190,958 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Elsie mean?

Elsie is a feminine given name, a diminutive form of Elspeth, a Scottish version of Elizabeth.

How popular is the name Elsie in 2025?

Elsie ranked #123 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 2,236 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Elsie?

190,958 babies have been named Elsie in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Elsie most popular?

Elsie peaked in 1918, when 5,221 newborns received the name.

Is Elsie a boy or girl name?

Elsie is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Elsie rising or falling?

Elsie is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Elsie become more popular?

Elsie is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 3,030 girls named Elsie in 2030, which would rank around #82. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Elsie?

Well-known people named Elsie include Elsie Janis (actor).

Names like Elsie

Names that sound and feel close to Elsie: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Elsie with similar names → More names starting with E →