Recorded 1963–2025 · United States
Elan was most popular in 2012, when 153 American babies were given the name — ranking #2,621 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,022, with 59 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,331 people named Elan.
Elan first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1963, which makes it about 62 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 62 of the 63 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,331 American births named Elan between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 4,227 are estimated to be alive today.
59 American babies were named Elan in 2025, ranking #5,022 that year.
Elan is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 77 births a year, against 148 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -48% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Elan is mostly a boy’s name — 18.4% of the 4,331 Americans given it were girls and 81.6% were boys. It changed hands: since 1970 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 10% girls and 90% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 4,227 Americans named Elan are alive today — 98% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 19 years old, and half are between 11 and 33.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Elan on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org