Elise
Feminine · “my God is an oath”
Elise is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 75,186 girls against 66 boys since 1880.
Elise began as a shortening — the tail end of Elisabeth, trimmed off in German and French and then kept as a name in its own right. Beethoven's little piano bagatelle "Für Elise", published decades after his death, has carried the spelling into practice rooms all over the world. It has been on American records since the earliest years such records were kept, never disappearing and never crowding a classroom.
How old is the name Elise?
Elise was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Elise alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 67,500 people named Elise are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elise most popular?
Elise peaked in 2012, reaching #152 nationally. Today it ranks #223, 71 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Elise appears on these lists:
- The steadiest names in America
- French names with effortless chic
- Names that work in English and French
- all guides
Works in French families too:
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Elise
The story of Elise
The line starts with Hebrew Elisheva, the wife of Aaron in the Book of Exodus. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Elisabet, Latin made it Elisabeth, and from there it spread across Christian Europe, where speakers did what speakers always do to long names: they cut them. German and French kept the final syllables as Elise, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages borrowed that form, and Italian and Spanish arrived at Elisa by the same route. English-speaking families took in Elise alongside Eliza, another clipping of the same original. That is why the name is both very old and quite short — an ancient name wearing a modern length.
Meaning
my God is an oath
The meaning belongs to the parent name: Hebrew Elisheva, from El (God) and a root tied to oath-swearing. Elise inherits it whole.
How the name formed
- Elisheva
- Elisabet
- Elisabeth
- Élise
- Elise
Related forms: Élise · Elise · Elise · Elise · Elisa · Eliza
Pronouncing Elise
eh-LEES
Two pronunciations are both in genuine use: eh-LEES with a soft s, and eh-LEEZ closer to the French Élise. Neither is wrong, but it helps to pick one and say it the same way at every introduction, since strangers will guess.
Nicknames for Elise
High
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 20132,017 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #152reached in 2012
- Change vs 2022
- +13.5%1,367 in 2025, from 1,204
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.
Elise in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Élise in French — spelling variant
- Elise in German — same name
- Elise in Dutch — same name
- Elise in Norwegian — same name
- Elisa in Italian — related form
- Eliza in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Elises among us
people named Elise are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,176 born in 2025 was named Elise
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Elise
- #223
- Elise on the 2025 chart
- #193
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Elise went to 1,367 girls in 2025, but Elyse, Elize and Ellyse and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 1,700, which makes it the 193rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 30 places above the chart.
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 945 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 1,176 for Elise 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 Fern test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Elise's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Fern climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Fern's path sketches the road Elise is walking now.
Elise 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 Elise is headed
Elise 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.
Elise beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elise in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, two syllables, and spelled the way most people will write it on a first try once they have heard it.
- Recognizable across French, German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages without changing form.
- Documented in American records since the beginning of those records, with no long gap in use.
- Familiar to nearly everyone without being crowded — most Elises go through school without meeting another.
- Comes with ready-made short forms, Ellie and Lise among them, rather than needing one invented.
- The s-or-z question is real and permanent: some people will say eh-LEES, others eh-LEEZ. Expect to correct it gently, forever, and to hear both from teachers in the same week.
- Elyse, Elise, Elisa and Eliza all sound near enough to be muddled. Forms and rosters will occasionally arrive with the wrong one of the four.
- "Für Elise" is one of the most recognized pieces of piano music there is, so the name may draw an occasional hum or joke — mild, affectionate, and easy to live with.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Elise
Feminine · #223 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elises are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 67,500 people named Elise are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Elise?
- Elise is the most-used spelling in US records — 1,367 of the 1,700 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Elyse, Elize, Ellyse and Ellise.
- How popular is the name Elise in 2025?
- Elise ranks #223 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,367 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elise?
- About 1 in every 1,176 US girls born in 2025 was named Elise — 1,367 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elise with classmates?
- Elise will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elise
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Brianna#222 · Alaina#224 · Jane#221 · Presley#225 · Noa#226 · Ada#219 · River#219 · Gracie#227
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elise? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elise and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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