Elva
A feminine name derived from the Old Norse word "elfr" meaning "white wave".
Name Census estimates that about 8,351 living Americans carry the first name Elva. It is a predominantly female name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Elva today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elva births was 1918 (818 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elva. 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 Elva with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Elva is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 817 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
8.4K
~ 1 in 41,044 Americans
Peak year
1918
818 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1981 SSA rank
#3,703
Tracked since 1880
Census
Elva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 18,329 people with the first name Elva, which placed it at #1,690 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
#1,690
National first-name rank
People counted
18K
18,329 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
70.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elva is Hispanic at 70.2%. The next largest groups are White (23.4%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Elva 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 Elva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino70.2% · 12,858
- White23.4% · 4,298
- Black or African American3.8% · 688
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 264
- Two or more races0.7% · 132
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 89
Gender
Gender distribution for Elva
Elva leans heavily female at 97.5% of total registrations, but 817 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Elva as a male name
- Ranked #6,577 in 1981
- 5 male births in 1981
- Peak: 1918 (29 births)
Elva as a female name
- Ranked #3,703 in 2024
- 41 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (789 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elva leans strongly female. 18,094 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 238 male bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Elva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elva from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 6,531 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elva 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 Elva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elvas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. Texas, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Elva, while Vermont, District of Columbia, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 497 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elva
The given name Elva has its origins in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Norse people who inhabited Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe during the Viking Age (circa 800-1050 AD). The name Elva is derived from the Old Norse word "elfr," which means "swan" or "river." It is believed that the name was initially given to children born near rivers or those with a graceful demeanor akin to swans.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elva can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical narratives and literary works dating back to the 13th century. In the Saga of Erik the Red, a character named Elva is mentioned as a settler in Greenland during the late 10th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the name Elva. One of the earliest known was Elva of Verden (c. 1050-1128), a German noblewoman and abbess who played a significant role in the religious life of medieval Germany. She was renowned for her piety and her efforts in establishing and reforming monasteries.
Another notable Elva was Elva Zona Heaster (1887-1897), an American child whose mysterious death in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, led to the conviction of her husband, Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue, in a case that became known as the "Greenbrier Ghost" trial. Elva's ghost allegedly appeared to her mother and helped uncover the truth about her murder.
In the world of literature, Elva Heaster Olson (1871-1957) was an American author and educator who wrote several books on the history of West Virginia, including "The Monongahela of Old" and "The Cherokee Trail."
Elva Famborough (1909-1987) was a British actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions throughout her career, including the 1935 film "The Ghost Goes West" and the original London production of the musical "Gypsy" in 1973.
Lastly, Elva Trill (1924-2007) was a Canadian lawyer and judge who made history as the first woman appointed to the County Court of Manitoba in 1976. She was highly respected for her legal acumen and her dedication to promoting gender equality in the legal profession.
While the name Elva is not as common today as it once was, its rich history and unique meaning have ensured that it remains a part of the cultural heritage of the Norse people and those who trace their ancestry back to the Viking era.
People
Elva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elva 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
Elva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,351 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elva 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 41,044 US residents.
Is Elva a common name?
We classify Elva 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, 32,471 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elva most popular?
The single biggest year for Elva was 1918, when 818 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elva is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 18,329 people with the name Elva, or 6.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,690 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 Elva 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 Elva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elva leans strongly female. 18,094 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 238 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Elva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elva is Hispanic at 70.2%. The next largest groups are White (23.4%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Elva most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.2% (12,858 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 Elva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elva a female name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Elva 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 Elva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elva 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 Elva 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 Americans are named Elva?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.