Head to head · Girls' names
Elena vs Eloise
#42 vs #49 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Elena is a whisker ahead (#42 vs #49 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Elena leads 4 measures of 6; Eloise leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Elena #760, Eloise #435 — Eloise higher
- 1890s: Elena #681, Eloise #353 — Eloise higher
- 1900s: Elena #580, Eloise #270 — Eloise higher
- 1910s: Elena #494, Eloise #202 — Eloise higher
- 1920s: Elena #468, Eloise #181 — Eloise higher
- 1930s: Elena #518, Eloise #229 — Eloise higher
- 1940s: Elena #507, Eloise #295 — Eloise higher
- 1950s: Elena #484, Eloise #486 — Elena higher
- 1960s: Elena #440, Eloise #979 — Elena higher
- 1970s: Elena #397, Eloise #2211 — Elena higher
- 1980s: Elena #372, Eloise #3032 — Elena higher
- 1990s: Elena #303, Eloise #3374 — Elena higher
- 2000s: Elena #213, Eloise #1569 — Elena higher
- 2010s: Elena #111, Eloise #295 — Elena higher
- 2020s: Elena #49, Eloise #88 — Elena higher
Elena stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Elena has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elena | Eloise |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #760 | #435 |
| 1890s | #681 | #353 |
| 1900s | #580 | #270 |
| 1910s | #494 | #202 |
| 1920s | #468 | #181 |
| 1930s | #518 | #229 |
| 1940s | #507 | #295 |
| 1950s | #484 | #486 |
| 1960s | #440 | #979 |
| 1970s | #397 | #2211 |
| 1980s | #372 | #3032 |
| 1990s | #303 | #3374 |
| 2000s | #213 | #1569 |
| 2010s | #111 | #295 |
| 2020s | #49 | #88 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elena
- France#42
- Canada#48
Eloise
- Canada#57
- England & Wales#85
- Scotland#91
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Elena
Most often read as "torch" or "light", though the root is genuinely disputed
Elena goes back to Greek Helenē, and nobody has settled what that word meant. The two long-standing readings connect it to helenē, a torch, and to selas, brightness or light; a third links it to the moon-name Selene. The name is far older than the explanations offered for it, which is why the explanations compete.
Helenē → Helena → Elena
How it traveled
The name begins in Greek as Helenē, borne by the figure at the center of Homer's Iliad, and passes into Latin as Helena. From Latin it settled across the Romance and Slavic worlds, losing its initial H along the way: Elena in Italian, Spanish and Romanian, Yelena in Russian.
Eloise
Most often traced to Germanic elements meaning "healthy" and "wide"
The usual derivation is from an Old Frankish name reconstructed as Helewidis, from heil "hale, healthy" and wid "wide". A competing line connects it instead to the same Germanic root as Louis and Louise, hlud "famous" and wig "battle", the two names having influenced each other in medieval French. Neither reading has fully won, and both are taken seriously.
Helewidis → Héloïse → Heloise → Eloise
How it traveled
The name belongs to the Frankish naming stock that spread through northern France after the fall of Rome, surfacing in Old French records as Helewidis and later smoothing into Héloïse. It traveled into English mainly through French literary and religious channels, losing its accents on the way and settling as Eloise and Heloise.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Elena
eh-LAY-nuh
Also widely said eh-LEH-nah, closer to the Spanish and Italian, and some families stress the first syllable: EH-leh-nah. All three are established, so it is worth deciding which one you want and saying it that way from the start.
- Ellie — The most common English short form, and a standalone given name in its own right.
- Lena — The standard shortening in Italian, German and Slavic families; also used alone as a full name.
- Elle — A clipped, one-syllable option; independently in use as a given name.
- Nellie — An older short form of the Helen family, informal and still recognized across generations.
- Also Lenka, Elenita.
Eloise
EL-oh-eez
Stress falls on the first syllable in most American use, though some families stress the last: el-oh-EEZ. The final consonant is usually a z; a softer -eece ending is also heard. The French Héloïse is ay-loh-EEZ.
- Ellie — The most common short form in American use; also given as a full name on its own, and shared with Eleanor, Ella and Elizabeth.
- Lo — Informal, drawn from the middle of the name; used at home rather than on paperwork.
- El — A one-syllable clip used casually, mostly among peers.
- Weezie — An older family nickname pattern, shared historically with Louise; heard chiefly within families rather than at school.
- Also Elle.
One short form, two names
- Elena and Eloise both shorten to Ellie.
- Elena and Eloise both shorten to Elle.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Who has carried each name
Elena
Elena Ferrante (b. 1943) — Mystery-shrouded author of My Brilliant Friend
Elena Kagan (b. 1960) — US Supreme Court justice
Elena Cornaro Piscopia (b. 1646) — First woman ever to earn a doctoral degree (Padua, 1678)
Eloise
No documented entry for Eloise yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elena if you want…
- a name with more sound in itElena runs 3 syllables, Eloise 2
Choose Eloise if you want…
- a name on the way upup 88 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesEloise is 2 syllables to Elena's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooEloise is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Elena
Strengths
- The same spelling works in Italian, Spanish, Romanian and Russian-speaking families, with no adjustment and no explanation needed.
- Several long-established short forms already exist — Ellie, Lena, Elle — so nothing has to be invented.
- Part of the Helen family, one of the oldest documented name lines in Europe, in unbroken use since ancient Greek.
To consider
- Three pronunciations are all correct, and Elena will spend some of her life correcting people who chose a different one.
- It sits in a crowded field of near-identical spellings — Elaina, Alaina, Helena, Alayna — so expect to spell it aloud fairly often.
- The name is climbing steadily, so it is likely to feel more common by the time she reaches school than it does now.
Eloise
Strengths
- Documented in Europe since the Middle Ages and in continuous English use, so it is neither a new coinage nor tied to a single decade.
- Charts in Canada, England and Wales, and Scotland as well as the United States, so it travels well across English-speaking countries.
- Has ready-made short forms — Ellie, Lo, El — for a child who wants something shorter, without requiring one.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood: Elise, Elisa, Eloisa and Heloise all get confused with it, and you can expect to spell it aloud fairly often.
- The nickname Ellie is currently shared with Eleanor, Ella, Elizabeth and Isabella, so a shortened Eloise may not stand out in a classroom.
- It is rising quickly, which means a child born now will meet more Eloises among her own age group than the wider population would suggest.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Elena and Eloise in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Elena and Eloise?
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- all guides
Every list here names both Elena and Eloise — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elena or Eloise — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elena or Eloise?
- Elena, in 2025: Elena ranked #42 with 4,836 babies; Eloise ranked #49 with 4,251 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elena or Eloise?
- Eloise. Over the last five years Elena moved up 13 places; Eloise moved up 88 places.
- Which is the older name, Elena or Eloise?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Elena and Eloise?
- About 100,000 people named Elena are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 43,000 people named Eloise are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Elena and Eloise share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Ellie and Elle, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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