Etelka
A feminine Hungarian name derived from the Greek name Etelinda, meaning "noble serpent".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Etelka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Etelka today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Etelka births was 1888 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Etelka. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Etelka. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1888
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1888 SSA rank
#1,350
Tracked since 1888
Census
Etelka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 111 people with the first name Etelka, which placed it at #51,800 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
#51,800
National first-name rank
People counted
111
111 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Etelka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Etelka is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%). 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 Etelka 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 Etelka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.7% · 104
- Black or African American6.3% · 7
Popularity
Etelka: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Etelka 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 Etelka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0 | 5 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Etelka
The name Etelka originated from the Hungarian language and culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Etel, which is derived from the Old Hungarian word "etel," meaning "food" or "nourishment." The name Etelka gained popularity in Hungary during the Middle Ages.
In ancient times, the name Etelka was associated with fertility and abundance. It was believed to bring blessings of prosperity and good harvests to those who bore it. The name was often given to girls born during the harvest season or to those whose families were involved in agriculture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Etelka can be found in a 13th-century Hungarian chronicle, where it was mentioned as the name of a noblewoman. Another historical reference comes from the 16th century, when a Hungarian princess named Etelka was married to a Polish prince, strengthening the ties between the two nations.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Etelka. One of the most famous was Etelka Gerster (1855-1920), a renowned Hungarian operatic soprano who performed in various opera houses across Europe. Another was Etelka Freissberger (1899-1967), an Austrian painter and graphic artist known for her vibrant portraits and landscapes.
In the literary world, Etelka Majthényi (1865-1946) was a Hungarian writer and poet who championed women's rights and social reform. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the struggles of women in society.
In the field of science, Etelka Csavcsics (1926-2020) was a Hungarian-born American mathematician and computer scientist. She made significant contributions to the development of programming languages and algorithms, and her work laid the foundation for modern computer science.
Finally, Etelka Koller (1880-1946) was a Hungarian-born American physicist and chemist. She was one of the first women to earn a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago and worked as a researcher at several prestigious institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley.
People
Etelka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Etelka 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
Etelka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Etelka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Etelka 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 - US residents.
Is Etelka a common name?
We classify Etelka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Etelka most popular?
The single biggest year for Etelka was 1888, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Etelka is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Etelka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 111 people with the name Etelka, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,800 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 Etelka 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 Etelka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Etelka leans strongly female. 114 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Etelka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Etelka is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%). 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 Etelka most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Etelka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (104 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 Etelka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Etelka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Etelka 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 Etelka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Etelka 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 Etelka 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 called Etelka?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.