Elsbeth
A feminine name of Germanic origin meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 418 living Americans carry the first name Elsbeth. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elsbeth today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elsbeth births was 1983 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elsbeth. 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 Elsbeth with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
418
~ 1 in 819,986 Americans
Peak year
1983
20 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,925
Tracked since 1906
Census
Elsbeth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 762 people with the first name Elsbeth, which placed it at #15,178 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
#15,178
National first-name rank
People counted
762
762 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elsbeth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elsbeth is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Elsbeth 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 Elsbeth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.9% · 670
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 36
- Two or more races3.0% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 22
- Black or African American1.4% · 11
Popularity
Elsbeth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elsbeth from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 111 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elsbeth 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 Elsbeth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elsbeths live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elsbeth
Elsbeth is a German feminine given name derived from the Old High German name Elisbet, which was a Germanic form of the Hebrew name Elizabeth. The name Elizabeth itself is derived from the Hebrew words "elisheva" meaning "God is my oath."
The name Elsbeth can be traced back to the Middle Ages, particularly in German-speaking regions of Europe. It was a popular name during this time period and was often used as a shortened or diminutive form of the name Elizabeth.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Elsbeth can be found in medieval German literature and records. For instance, there is mention of an Elsbeth von Einsiedeln, a nun who lived in the 14th century and is known for her writings on spiritual matters.
Another notable historical figure with the name Elsbeth was Elsbeth von Pflirt, a 15th-century German noblewoman and landowner. She was known for her involvement in political and legal disputes related to her landholdings.
In the 16th century, there was Elsbeth Tucherin, a German merchant and chronicler who documented life in Nuremberg during the Renaissance period. Her writings provide valuable insights into the social and economic conditions of the time.
Moving forward to the 17th century, we find Elsbeth Stammel, a German artist and printmaker who was known for her engravings and etchings depicting religious and allegorical subjects.
Lastly, in the 19th century, there was Elsbeth Krukenberg-Conze, a German author and women's rights activist. She wrote several novels and works advocating for women's education and equality.
While the name Elsbeth was primarily used in German-speaking regions, it also gained some popularity in other parts of Europe and beyond, often as a variant or anglicized form of the name Elizabeth.
People
Elsbeth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elsbeth 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
Elsbeth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elsbeth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elsbeth 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 819,986 US residents.
Is Elsbeth a common name?
We classify Elsbeth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 737 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elsbeth most popular?
The single biggest year for Elsbeth was 1983, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elsbeth is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elsbeth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 762 people with the name Elsbeth, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,178 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 Elsbeth 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 Elsbeth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elsbeth appears almost entirely female. Of the 757 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Elsbeth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elsbeth is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Elsbeth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elsbeth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (670 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 Elsbeth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elsbeth a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elsbeth 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 Elsbeth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elsbeth 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 Elsbeth 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 are named Elsbeth?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Elsbeth at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.