Elizabeth
Feminine · “my God is an oath”
Elizabeth is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 1,688,757 girls against 5,216 boys since 1880. See Elizabeth as a boy name
Hebrew sheva means both an oath and the number seven, and the two are the same idea: oaths were sworn by sevens. Abraham seals one by handing over seven ewe lambs at a well, and the place is called Beersheba — the well of the oath, or the well of seven, and the text will not choose.
How old is the name Elizabeth?
Elizabeth was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Elizabeth alive today was born around 1966, making them about 59 years old. About 1,160,000 people named Elizabeth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elizabeth most popular?
Elizabeth peaked in 1887, reaching #3 nationally. Today it ranks #17, 14 places below that high. See the whole 1887 chart.
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Elizabeth
The story of Elizabeth
Elisheva is Aaron's wife in Exodus, named in a single verse. The name reappears in Luke as the mother of John the Baptist, an old woman told she will have a child, and the scene where Mary visits her is one of the few in the Gospels where two women talk to each other. From there it went into every European language and did something almost no other name has done: it has been in continuous heavy use in English for four hundred years without ever having a peak decade. Most names rise, crest and fall, and their bearers can be dated by them. This one has simply never been unfashionable, which is the rarest thing a name can achieve.
Meaningscholars disagree
my God is an oath
Hebrew Elisheva: el, God, with sheva. Because the word means both an oath and seven, the name is read as my God is an oath and, less often, as my God is abundance. The Beersheba story shows the ambiguity working in the text itself rather than only in the dictionary.
Cultural footprint
Elizabeth II (b. 1926) — Britain's longest-reigning monarch — 70 years on the throne
Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533) — Queen of England's Golden Age, the era of Shakespeare
Elizabeth Taylor (b. 1932) — Violet-eyed Hollywood legend with two Oscars — and Cleopatra
Elizabeth Blackburn (b. 1948) — Nobel laureate who discovered how our chromosomes protect themselves
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Elisheva
- Elisabet
- Elizabeth
Related forms: Elisheva · Isabel · Elisabetta · Elizaveta · Erzsebet · Eilis
Pronouncing Elizabeth
ih-LIZ-uh-beth
Four syllables, stress on the second. The th at the end is a sound most of the world's languages do not have, which is why every other European version of the name changed it.
Nicknames for Elizabeth
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
- 198420,360 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3reached in 1887
- Change vs 2022
- −3.7%6,760 in 2025, from 7,020
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.
Elizabeth in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elisheva in Hebrew — same name
- Isabel in Spanish — same name
- Elisabetta in Italian — same name
- Elizaveta in Russian — same name
- Erzsebet in Hungarian — same name
- Eilis in Irish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. International figures from Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Elizabeths among us
people named Elizabeth are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 238 born in 2025 was named Elizabeth
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
Elizabeth has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Elizabeth is headed
Elizabeth 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.
Elizabeth beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elizabeth in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- More short forms than any other name in English, at every possible register.
- Recognized in every European language, usually without translation.
- A documented Hebrew meaning and continuous use for more than two thousand years.
- It has never been out of use and never been a fashion, so it dates nobody.
- It is one of the most given names in the English-speaking world and always has been.
- The short forms are so numerous that a child may end up called several things at once.
- It is nine letters and four syllables on every form she will ever fill in.
- 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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Elizabeth
Feminine · #17 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elizabeths are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,160,000 people named Elizabeth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Elizabeth in 2025?
- Elizabeth ranks #17 among US girl names in 2025, with 6,760 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Elizabeth?
- About 1 in every 238 US girls born in 2025 was named Elizabeth — 6,760 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elizabeth with classmates?
- Roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Elizabeth.
Ranked beside Elizabeth
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lily#18 · Harper#16 · Camila#19 · Aurora#15 · Ailany#14 · Nora#20 · Violet#13 · Hazel#21
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elizabeth? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elizabeth and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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