Elana
Feminine · “tree”
Elana is a tree in Hebrew — ilan with a feminine ending — and it is also a Spanish and Greek form of Helen, whose meaning nobody has recovered.
How old is the name Elana?
Elana first appears in US birth records in 1934 — 91 years ago. The typical Elana alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 8,600 people named Elana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elana most popular?
Elana peaked in 1960, reaching #885 nationally. Today it ranks #1981, 1,096 places below that high. See the whole 1960 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ilan to Elana
The story of Elana
Ilan and Ilana belong to the wave of modern Hebrew names built from ordinary words rather than biblical figures, and Tu BiShvat is the new year of the trees. Separately, Elena is standard across Spanish, Italian and Russian naming. Both routes brought Elana to America, where it appears in the registers in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
tree; unrecovered
Two routes. The Hebrew ilana or elana, 'tree', from ilan — a modern Israeli name built on ordinary vocabulary. Or a form of Helen or Elena, whose Greek origin is genuinely unrecovered. Both are in use and neither is dominant.
How the name formed
- ilan
- ilana
- Elana
Related forms: אילנה · Elena · Alana
Pronouncing Elana
eh-LAH-nuh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Hebrew Ilana places the stress on the final syllable.
Nicknames for Elana
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1934
- Most girls named
- 2006219 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #885reached in 1960
- Change vs 2023
- +1.0%97 in 2025, from 96
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Elana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- אילנה in Hebrew — related form
- Elena in Spanish — related form
- Alana in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Elanas among us
people named Elana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 16,570 born in 2025 was named Elana
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Elana
- #1981
- Elana on the 2025 chart
- #835
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Elana went to 97 girls in 2025, but Elanna, Ellana and Elanah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 125, which makes it the 835th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,146 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 12,858 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 16,570 for Elana itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Georgiann test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Elana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Georgiann climbed just as high around 1942, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Georgiann's path sketches the road Elana is walking now.
Elana sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Elana is headed
Elana should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Elana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The tree meaning is concrete and undisputed for the Hebrew route.
- Ela and Lana are two short forms, both names in their own right.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- The origin is genuinely split between Hebrew and Greek routes.
- Elena and Alana are both close enough to cause confusion.
- Helen's own meaning is unrecovered.
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What they receive
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Elana
Feminine · #1981 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,600 people named Elana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Elana?
- Elana is the most-used spelling in US records — 97 of the 125 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Elanna, Ellana and Elanah.
- How popular is the name Elana in 2025?
- Elana ranks #1981 among US girl names in 2025, with 97 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elana?
- About 1 in every 16,570 US girls born in 2025 was named Elana — 97 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elana with classmates?
- Elana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Shanaya#1981 · Elisheva#1981 · Melinda#1981 · Reva#1981 · Charity#1981 · Janyla#1981 · Sequoia#1981 · Theia#1981
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elana and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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