Elana
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has answered".
Name Census estimates that about 8,244 living Americans carry the first name Elana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elana today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elana births was 2006 (219 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elana. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Elana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.2K
~ 1 in 41,576 Americans
Peak year
2006
219 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,879
Tracked since 1934
Census
Elana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,668 people with the first name Elana, which placed it at #2,704 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,704
National first-name rank
People counted
8.7K
8,668 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elana is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Black (9.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Elana described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Elana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.7% · 5,871
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 1,227
- Black or African American9.7% · 841
- Two or more races4.8% · 413
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 224
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 92
Popularity
Elana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elana from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,762 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Elana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elana by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Elana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Elana, while West Virginia, Mississippi, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 179 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elana
The name Elana has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew name Elana, which means "oak tree" or "tall tree." The name is a variant of the more common Hebrew name Elana, with a slightly different spelling.
In the Bible, the name Elana is not explicitly mentioned, but it shares a root with the Hebrew word "elon," which refers to an oak tree. Oak trees were revered in ancient Israelite culture and were often associated with strength, endurance, and longevity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elana can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions a woman named Elana who lived in the 4th century CE and was renowned for her wisdom and knowledge of Jewish law.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Elana. One of the earliest was Elana of Narni (1370-1459), an Italian mystic and saint who is revered in the Roman Catholic Church for her visions and spiritual teachings.
Another famous Elana was Elana Ferrante (1544-1634), an Italian Renaissance poet and writer who was celebrated for her lyrical works and was a prominent figure in the literary circles of her time.
In more recent history, Elana Meyer (born 1966) is a South African former long-distance runner and Olympic medalist. She won numerous titles and broke several world records during her athletic career.
Elana Kagan (born 1960) is an American lawyer and jurist who currently serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and took office in 2010.
Elana Dykewomon (born 1949) is an American author and activist known for her contributions to lesbian literature and her advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. She has written several novels and short stories exploring themes of identity, community, and social justice.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Elana, a name that has endured and carried various cultural and historical significances across different eras and regions.
People
Elana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Elana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,244 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elana going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 41,576 US residents.
Is Elana a common name?
We classify Elana as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,809 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elana most popular?
The single biggest year for Elana was 2006, when 219 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elana is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,668 people with the name Elana, or 2.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,704 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Elana in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Elana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elana appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,659 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Elana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elana is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Black (9.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Elana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.7% (5,871 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Elana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elana in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Elana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elana in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Elana can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Elana?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Elana at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.