Elba
Feminine
Elba is given to both — 3,393 girls and 313 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
The Romans called the island Ilva and mined iron out of it for centuries, as the Etruscans had before them. The ore ran for two and a half thousand years. Ilva became Elba somewhere in the middle of that, and the island kept its one industry until living memory.
How old is the name Elba?
Elba first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Elba alive today was born around 1961, making them about 64 years old. About 2,400 people named Elba are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elba most popular?
Elba peaked in 1891, reaching #750 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 10,167 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ilva to Elba
The story of Elba
Two things put Elba on the map for people who had never been there. The first is iron: the island's ore was worked by the Etruscans, shipped across the Mediterranean by the Romans, and still mined into the twentieth century, which is a long working life for one hillside. The second is a single year of exile — Napoleon was given the island as a sovereign principality, stayed ten months and left. That episode produced the best-known palindrome in English, able was I ere I saw Elba, which is why a great many people who could not find the island on a chart know its name. As a given name it belongs mostly to Spanish-speaking families, and how it got there has not been traced.
Meaningnot established
Not established
As a Spanish woman's name, Elba has no established source. It is variously treated as a form of Alba, dawn, and as a borrowing of the island or the German river Elbe, and none of these has been shown. The island's own name, Ilva, is pre-Roman and its meaning is lost — probably Ligurian, possibly connected to the word for iron, but not demonstrated.
How the name formed
- Ilva
- Elba
Related forms: Elba · Elva
Pronouncing Elba
EL-bah
Two syllables, stress on the first, in Spanish, Italian and English alike. There is nothing ambiguous in it, which is rare for a four-letter name.
Nicknames for Elba
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
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 195682 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #750reached in 1891
- Change vs 2022
- −42.9%8 in 2025, from 14
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.
Elba in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elba in Italian — same name
- Elva in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Elbas among us
people named Elba are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Elba
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Elba 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
Elba beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elba in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, two syllables, and said identically in three languages.
- It is short without being a shortening of anything.
- It serves either child, since neither the place nor the Spanish name is grammatically marked.
- Most people who recognize it will think of Napoleon first.
- It is close enough to Elva, Alba and Delba to be misheard as any of them.
- There is no documented meaning, so there may be nothing to tell a child who asks.
- The very few boys given this spelling will be read as girls on paper.
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What they receive
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Elba
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elbas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Elba are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Elba in 2025?
- Elba ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elba?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Elba — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elba with classmates?
- Elba will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elba
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elba? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elba and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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