Elpidio
Masculine · “hope”
When Pandora opened the jar, everything got out except one thing. Elpis — hope — was still inside when the lid went back on, and Greek writers have argued for two and a half thousand years about whether that means hope was saved for us or kept from us.
How old is the name Elpidio?
Elpidio first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Elpidio alive today was born around 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 600 people named Elpidio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elpidio most popular?
Elpidio peaked in 1935, reaching #1837 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 10,171 places below that high. See the whole 1935 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From elpis to Elpidio
The story of Elpidio
It was not a box. Hesiod says pithos, which is a large clay storage jar, and the box arrived in the sixteenth century when Erasmus translated the word into Latin as pyxis, a small container. The mistranslation has stuck for five hundred years. The harder problem is the hope. If the jar held evils and hope stayed inside, either hope was preserved for humanity or humanity was denied it, and the Greek supports both; Nietzsche argued for the second reading and he was not the first. Elpis was also a minor goddess, and the name Elpidius belonged to several early bishops, which is how it reached Spanish and Italian.
Meaning
hope
From Greek elpis, hope or expectation, through the name Elpidius. Elpidio is the Spanish and Italian form. The Greek word is more neutral than the English one — it means expectation of what is coming, good or bad — which is part of why the Pandora question is hard.
How the name formed
- elpis
- Elpidius
- Elpidio
Related forms: Elpidio · Elpidio · Elpidios
Pronouncing Elpidio
el-PEE-dee-oh
Four syllables, stress on the second. Spanish and Italian say it the same way. English speakers reduce the last two, which is understood everywhere it is used.
Nicknames for Elpidio
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
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 199420 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1837reached in 1935
- Change vs 2012
- 0.0%5 in 2025, from 5
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.
Elpidio in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elpidio in Spanish — same name
- Elpidio in Italian — same name
- Elpidios in Greek — same name
Elpidios among us
people named Elpidio are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Elpidio
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Haynes test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Elpidio's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Haynes climbed just as high around 1918, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Haynes's path sketches the road Elpidio is walking now.
Elpidio 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
Elpidio beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elpidio in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Greek meaning that is one word and a good one.
- The same spelling in Spanish and Italian.
- Four open syllables with a clear stress and no cluster anywhere.
- Four syllables is long and it will be shortened by others.
- It is strongly represented among older generations in Mexico and the Philippines.
- Outside Spanish-speaking families it will need repeating more often than most.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Elpidio
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elpidios are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Elpidio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Elpidio in 2025?
- Elpidio ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elpidio?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Elpidio — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elpidio with classmates?
- Elpidio will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elpidio
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elpidio? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elpidio and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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