Elza
Feminine · “my God is an oath”
Elza is given to both — 831 girls and 2,111 boys since 1880. See Elza as a boy nameSee other names given to both
The most played piece of wedding music in America is the bridal chorus from Lohengrin, and it is sung at Elsa's wedding — to a knight who has forbidden her to ask his name. She asks. He leaves. The music has been detached from the story for so long that almost nobody at the ceremony knows.
How old is the name Elza?
Elza first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Elza alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 400 people named Elza are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elza most popular?
Elza peaked in 1883, reaching #920 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 9,997 places below that high. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Elza
The story of Elza
Wagner took Elsa of Brabant from medieval German poems, and Lohengrin was performed across Europe from the middle of the nineteenth century onward, which is when Elsa spread well beyond German-speaking families. The z spelling has a separate and more practical explanation. In Hungarian, s is the letter for the sh sound, so Elsa written in Hungarian would be read Elsha; the sound of Elsa has to be spelled Elza. Portuguese voices an s between vowels for the same reason. So Elza is not a decoration but a translation of the spelling, and it arrived in American records from Hungary, Brazil and the Slavic-speaking countries with the people who used it.
Meaning
my God is an oath
Elza is a spelling of Elsa, the German short form of Elisabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva: el, God, with the word for an oath. The meaning belongs to the full name; Elsa and Elza are what four centuries of German speech did to it.
How the name formed
- Elisheva
- Elisabeth
- Elsa
- Elza
Related forms: Elsa · Elza · Elza · Elza
Pronouncing Elza
EL-zah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with an audible z. Elsa with an s is said the same way by most English speakers, which is exactly the confusion the z spelling was invented to prevent.
Nicknames for Elza
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
- 1883
- Most girls named
- 192421 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #920reached in 1883
- Change vs 2023
- −42.9%8 in 2025, from 14
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.
Elza in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elsa in German — same name
- Elza in Hungarian — same name
- Elza in Portuguese — same name
- Elza in Georgian — transliteration
Elzas among us
people named Elza are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Elza
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
Elza 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
Elza beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elza in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, spelled the way it is said.
- Used in German, Hungarian, Portuguese and Georgian families without adjustment.
- It carries the meaning of Elisabeth without carrying its length.
- Elsa is far commoner in America and this spelling will be corrected toward it constantly.
- A very well known animated film has attached Elsa to one character for a generation of children.
- It is strongly represented among the oldest generations, which gives it a distinct period sound.
- 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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Elza
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elzas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Elza are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Elza in 2025?
- Elza ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elza?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Elza — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elza with classmates?
- Elza will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elza
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elza? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elza and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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