Elmore
Masculine · “the elm bank”
Elmore is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 3,957 boys against 10 girls since 1880.
Elmore is a bank of elm trees. It is a village in Gloucestershire on a bend of the Severn, a surname taken from it, and then an American first name — one of a small group ending in -more that all began as English ground rather than Latin words.
How old is the name Elmore?
Elmore was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Elmore alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 1,000 people named Elmore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elmore most popular?
Elmore peaked in 1896, reaching #400 nationally. See the whole 1896 chart.
Where it comes from
From elm ora to Elmore
The story of Elmore
The English -more names are a set: Elmore, Whitmore, Gilmore, Dunmore, Sizemore, Blackmore. Some end in ora, a bank; some in mor, a moor. All of them describe a piece of land, all became surnames, and a good number crossed to America and moved to the front of the name in the nineteenth century, particularly in the South. Elmore did well there and stayed: the name belongs to a blues guitarist and a crime novelist, among many others, and it has kept a plainness that names of its generation often lost.
Meaning
the elm bank
Old English elm and ora, a bank or shore or ridge. The -more ending here has nothing to do with the Latin for more or the Irish for great; it is an English landscape word worn down.
How the name formed
- elm ora
- Elmore
Pronouncing Elmore
EL-mor
Two syllables, weight at the front. The second is said like the word more, not like the Irish -more of Kenmore.
Nicknames for Elmore
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1915119 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #400reached in 1896
- Change vs 2004
- −16.7%5 in 2021, from 6
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.
Elmores among us
people named Elmore are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Elmore sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Both halves are ordinary English, so the name is read correctly at first sight.
- It works as a surname and as a first name, which suits families that use both.
- The meaning is concrete: a specific kind of tree on a specific kind of ground.
- It will be heard as Elmer and written that way.
- The spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys in the United States.
- It reads as a name of the nineteenth century, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
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Elmore
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Elmores are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Elmore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Elmore in 2025?
- Elmore is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Elmore with classmates?
- Elmore will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Edward#224 · Eric#273 · Ethan#24 · Eugene#943 · Elijah#7 · Ernest#1038 · Earl#2230 · Evan#153
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elmore? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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