Humanverse

Elanie vs Elayne

American parents have registered 4,114 Elaynes since 1880, against 755 Elanies. But in 2025 it was Elanie that was commoner, 54 babies to 40.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Elanie against Elayne, 1880 to 2025 0 30 60 90 120 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Elanie Elayne

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 114 years in which either name was published, Elayne for 103 years and Elanie for 11 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Elanie Elayne
Total US births 7554,114
Most in one year 54104
Babies in 2025 5440
Estimated living today 7502,400
Median age today 1060
Peak year 20251946
Best rank 3,028th girls809th girls
Rank in 2025 3,028th3,712th
First recorded 19591912
Girls / boys 755 / 04,114 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Elaynes alive today are over 60; half the Elanies are over 10. That is 50 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Elanie and Elayne.