Elvis
Masculine · “Not settled”
Elvis is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 17,971 boys against 152 girls since 1880.
Two syllables, both of them plain and hard-edged, and nobody has ever had to ask how it is spelled. Elvis was on American birth records long before the singer from Tupelo made it a household word, and it traveled with him afterwards into Spanish-, Portuguese- and Bosnian-speaking families who kept it in their own registers. Rare here without being unheard of, it stays strongly represented among the generations who grew up with the records playing.
How old is the name Elvis?
Elvis first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Elvis alive today was born around 1984, making them about 41 years old. About 14,500 people named Elvis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elvis most popular?
Elvis peaked in 1957, reaching #311 nationally. Today it ranks #1328, 1,017 places below that high. See the whole 1957 chart.
Elvis appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Elvis
Elvis reached the American South as a family name passed down through middle names — Elvis Presley took his from his father, Vernon Elvis Presley — and it was quietly in use in the United States for decades before the records started selling. Its older roots are argued over: a Welsh parish carries the name St Elvis, Norse Alvíss lies behind the related Alvis, and the English surname Elwes offers a third route. After the mid-twentieth century the name went global on the back of the music, and it stuck hardest outside the English-speaking world, where boys named Elvis are still born in Latin America and the Balkans with no sense of novelty about it.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not settled — the strongest readings are 'all-wise' and a saint's name of Welsh-Irish tradition
One line takes Elvis as a form of Alvis, from Old Norse Alvíss, 'all-wise'. Another connects it to the Welsh-Irish saint Elvis, remembered in the Pembrokeshire parish and farm called St Elvis and identified in Irish tradition with Ailbe of Emly. A third derives it from the English surname Elwes, itself from the Germanic woman's name Helewidis. None of the three has won.
Pronouncing Elvis
EL-viss
Stress on the first syllable everywhere. Spanish speakers give it a softer middle consonant, closer to EL-bees, and the name survives that shift without confusion.
Nicknames for Elvis
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
- 1956 — Elvis Presley's breakthrough year
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 1957605 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #311reached in 1957
- Change vs 2022
- −4.6%145 in 2025, from 152
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.
Elvis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elvis in Spanish — same name
- Elvis in Portuguese — same name
- Elvis in Bosnian / Croatian — same name
- Alvis in English — related form
- Alvíss in Old Norse — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Elviss among us
people named Elvis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 11,780 born in 2025 was named Elvis
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 Buford test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Elvis's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Buford climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Buford's path sketches the road Elvis is walking now.
Elvis 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 Elvis is headed
Elvis should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Elvis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elvis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, in English and in Spanish; almost nobody has to spell it twice.
- In use in American records well before the singer, so it has a long unbroken line rather than a single moment.
- Works unchanged across Spanish, Portuguese and Bosnian-speaking families — the same five letters everywhere.
- Short, stressed on the first syllable, and clear against most surnames.
- The association with Elvis Presley is close to total in the United States. Expect the raised eyebrow, the quoted lyric, the occasional lip curl — most often warm, but it will happen throughout a lifetime.
- It resists shortening. There is no settled nickname the way Charles has Charlie, so the name will mostly be used in full, which suits some families and not others.
- Because it is so tied to one man, some people hear it as a stage name first and a given name second. That reading softens quickly once they meet a child who simply has it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Elvis to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Elvis
Masculine · #1328 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elviss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 14,500 people named Elvis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Elvis in 2025?
- Elvis ranks #1328 among US boy names in 2025, with 145 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elvis?
- About 1 in every 11,780 US boys born in 2025 was named Elvis — 145 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elvis with classmates?
- Elvis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
- What explains the spikes and dips on Elvis's chart?
- Elvis climbed after 1956 — Elvis Presley's breakthrough year.
Ranked beside Elvis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Francesco#1328 · Gilbert#1328 · Sanad#1328 · Gus#1328 · Bryant#1323 · Lucio#1323 · London#1333 · Noble#1333
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elvis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elvis and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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