How Many People Are Named Eleanor?
An estimated 126,643 people in the United States have the first name Eleanor. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #430 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 29 years old, and Eleanor peaked in popularity in 1920 with 8,507 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Eleanor as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Eleanor paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Eleanor is overwhelmingly female, 640 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
126,643
About 1 in 2,706 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
29
years old
Peak Year
1920
8,507 births
Total Registered
329,630
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Eleanor
Eleanor is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 329,630 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Eleanor as a male name
Ranked #7,884 in 2024
10 male births in 2024
Peak: 1927 (31 births)
Eleanor as a female name
Ranked #14 in 2024
7,127 female births in 2024
Peak: 1920 (8,497 births)
Eleanor: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Eleanor span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 74,964 babies were registered. While Eleanor is less common than at its peak in the 1920s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Eleanor by Decade
How has Eleanor tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,136 | 0 | 2,136 | |
| 1890s | 4,754 | 0 | 4,754 | |
| 1900s | 10,044 | 14 | 10,030 | |
| 1910s | 54,258 | 95 | 54,163 | |
| 1920s | 74,964 | 204 | 74,760 | |
| 1930s | 46,572 | 193 | 46,379 | |
| 1940s | 23,837 | 76 | 23,761 | |
| 1950s | 11,072 | 7 | 11,065 | |
| 1960s | 5,939 | 0 | 5,939 | |
| 1970s | 2,749 | 0 | 2,749 | |
| 1980s | 2,796 | 7 | 2,789 | |
| 1990s | 4,871 | 0 | 4,871 | |
| 2000s | 11,192 | 5 | 11,187 | |
| 2010s | 40,135 | 12 | 40,123 | |
| 2020s | 34,311 | 27 | 34,284 | |
Eleanor by State
Birth registrations for Eleanor span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada. On average, about 6,068 Eleanors were registered per state.
Eleanor + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Eleanor as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Eleanor
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
Eleanor: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eleanor?
We estimate approximately 126,643 people named Eleanor are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 2,706 Americans share this first name.
Is Eleanor a common name?
Eleanor is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 329,630 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Eleanor most popular?
Eleanor reached peak popularity in 1920, when 8,507 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Eleanor is approximately 29 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Eleanor a female name?
Eleanor is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Eleanor Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Eleanor Smith, Eleanor Johnson, Eleanor Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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