Elvera
Possibly derived from Germanic elements meaning "elf strength" or "magical strength".
Name Census estimates that about 647 living Americans carry the first name Elvera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elvera today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elvera births was 1921 (219 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elvera. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Elvera is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Elveras were born before 1962.
People living today
647
~ 1 in 529,759 Americans
Peak year
1921
219 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,003
Tracked since 1887
Census
Elvera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,243 people with the first name Elvera, which placed it at #10,626 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
#10,626
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,243 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elvera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elvera is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.7%) and Black (13.3%). 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 Elvera 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 Elvera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.6% · 790
- Hispanic or Latino16.7% · 208
- Black or African American13.3% · 165
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 27
- Two or more races1.3% · 16
Popularity
Elvera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elvera from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,748 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
Elvera 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 Elvera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elveras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Elvera, while Oklahoma, Georgia, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 128 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elvera
The name Elvera is a feminine given name of Spanish origin, derived from the Latin name "Elvidius" or "Elvidius". The name Elvidius itself is a combination of the Latin words "avis" meaning "bird" and "videre" meaning "to see", suggesting the meaning "one who sees birds".
The earliest recorded use of the name Elvera dates back to the 9th century in Spain. It was particularly popular among the Spanish nobility during the medieval period. The name appears in several historical records and documents from that era, though its usage was relatively rare compared to other Spanish names.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Elvera was Elvera de Castilla, a Spanish noblewoman who lived in the 11th century. She was a member of the influential House of Castile and played a significant role in the political affairs of the time.
In the 13th century, there was a prominent figure named Elvera de Aragón, who was a member of the royal family of Aragon. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for various cultural and educational initiatives.
Another notable person with the name Elvera was Elvera de Córdoba, a Spanish nun who lived in the 15th century. She was renowned for her piety and devotion to her religious order, and her writings on spiritual matters were widely read and studied.
During the 16th century, the name Elvera gained some popularity in Italy, particularly in the region of Tuscany. One of the most famous Italians with the name was Elvera Strozzi, a poet and writer who lived from 1508 to 1578. Her works were celebrated for their lyrical beauty and insight into the human condition.
In the 17th century, there was a French woman named Elvera Duval who gained notoriety for her involvement in a high-profile legal case. She was accused of murder but was eventually acquitted, and her trial became a subject of public fascination and debate.
While the name Elvera has fallen out of common usage in modern times, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of historical names, with its roots firmly planted in the cultural traditions of Spain and the broader Spanish-speaking world.
People
Elvera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elvera 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
Elvera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elvera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 647 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elvera 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 529,759 US residents.
Is Elvera a common name?
We classify Elvera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,200 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elvera most popular?
The single biggest year for Elvera was 1921, when 219 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elvera is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elvera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,243 people with the name Elvera, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,626 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 Elvera 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 Elvera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elvera appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,246 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Elvera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elvera is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.7%) and Black (13.3%). 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 Elvera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elvera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.6% (790 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 Elvera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elvera a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elvera 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 Elvera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elvera 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 Elvera 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 Elvera?
Find out how many people have the name Elvera on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.