Elden vs Eldred
American parents have registered 5,932 Eldens since 1880, against 4,040 Eldreds. Elden is still ahead, with 36 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Elden Eldred
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 137 years in which either name was published, Elden for 109 years and Eldred for 28 years. The lead changed hands 29 times.
- 1892–1896 Eldred ahead
- 1899–1901 Elden ahead
- 1908–1915 Eldred ahead
- 1924–2025 Elden ahead, apart from 5 short spells
21 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Elden | Eldred | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 5,932 | 4,040 |
| Most in one year | 141 | 168 |
| Babies in 2025 | 36 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 2,300 | 1,000 |
| Median age today | 51 | 64 |
| Peak year | 1922 | 1921 |
| Best rank | 520th boys | 572nd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,240th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1884 | 1882 |
| Girls / boys | 11 / 5,921 | 294 / 3,746 |
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 Eldreds alive today are over 64; half the Eldens are over 51. That is 13 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Elden Utah (12.0×), Idaho (9.5×), Nebraska (8.3×)
- Eldred Iowa (7.2×), Minnesota (7.2×), Wisconsin (5.9×)
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: Elden and Eldred.