Elimelech
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my king".
Name Census estimates that about 1,086 living Americans carry the first name Elimelech. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elimelech today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elimelech births was 2024 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elimelech. 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 Elimelech with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 315,612 Americans
Peak year
2024
48 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,713
Tracked since 1967
Census
Elimelech in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 790 people with the first name Elimelech, which placed it at #14,793 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
#14,793
National first-name rank
People counted
790
790 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elimelech
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elimelech is White at 95.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Elimelech 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 Elimelech at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.4% · 754
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 9
- Black or African American0.8% · 6
- Two or more races0.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Elimelech: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elimelech from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 347 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elimelech remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elimelech 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 Elimelech during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elimelechs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elimelech
The name Elimelech is of Hebrew origin, derived from the combination of two words: "el" meaning "God" and "melech" meaning "king." It roughly translates to "My God is King" or "God is my King." This name first appeared in the biblical text of the Book of Ruth, which is believed to have been written sometime between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE.
The Book of Ruth mentions Elimelech as a man from Bethlehem who, along with his wife Naomi and their two sons, migrated to the land of Moab due to famine in Judah. Elimelech's name is symbolic of his faith and trust in God, even during times of hardship and adversity. This biblical reference is one of the earliest known recordings of the name Elimelech.
Throughout history, the name Elimelech has been used, albeit infrequently, by people of Jewish and Christian faiths, particularly those with ties to the biblical tradition. One notable figure bearing this name was Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1787), a renowned Hasidic rabbi and spiritual leader in Poland. He was known for his teachings on joy, humility, and the importance of serving God with a pure heart.
Another individual with the name Elimelech was Elimelech ben Judah (12th century), a French rabbi and commentator on the Talmud. His work, known as the "Sefer Ra'avan," was highly influential in the study of Jewish law and tradition during the Middle Ages.
In the 19th century, Elimelech Shapiro (1824-1886) was a prominent Hasidic Rebbe and leader of the Grodzisk dynasty in Poland. He was known for his wisdom, compassion, and dedication to the teachings of the Hasidic movement.
Another notable figure was Elimelech Gavriel Taubenfeld (1856-1937), a Polish-born rabbi and scholar who served as the chief rabbi of Lviv (now in Ukraine) in the early 20th century. He was renowned for his expertise in Jewish law and his efforts to promote religious education among the Jewish community.
While the name Elimelech has a rich historical significance, particularly in the Jewish and Christian traditions, its usage has been relatively uncommon throughout history. However, it remains a cherished name among those who value its biblical roots and the profound meaning it carries.
People
Elimelech + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elimelech 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
Elimelech: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elimelech?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,086 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elimelech 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 315,612 US residents.
Is Elimelech a common name?
We classify Elimelech as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elimelech most popular?
The single biggest year for Elimelech was 2024, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elimelech is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elimelech in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 790 people with the name Elimelech, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,793 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 Elimelech 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 Elimelech?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elimelech appears almost entirely male. Of the 789 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Elimelech?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elimelech is White at 95.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Elimelech most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elimelech in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.4% (754 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 Elimelech in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elimelech a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elimelech in the SSA data are male. 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 Elimelech still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elimelech 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 Elimelech 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 many people share the name Elimelech?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.