FastNamesElizabeth
Hebrew and Greek name meaning "Derived from biblical Hebrew Elisheva (אֱלִישֶׁבַע), composed of El ('God') and sheva ('oath' or 'seven'), signifying 'my God is an oath' or 'consecrated to God'.". Ranked 17th for girls in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Elizabeth
Derived from biblical Hebrew Elisheva (אֱלִישֶׁבַע), composed of El ('God') and sheva ('oath' or 'seven'), signifying 'my God is an oath' or 'consecrated to God'.
Linguistically, Elizabeth is classified under Hebrew and Greek naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "ih-LIZ-uh-bith".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Elizabeth has been given to a total of 1,688,757 girls. It has also been given to 5,216 boys.
Peak year: Elizabeth reached its highest relative share among girls in 1880, when 1,939 babies received the name (21,309 per million births).
All-time best rank: 3rd place, first achieved in 1887.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 17th with 6,760 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 13th (down 4 spots).
Busiest decade: More girls were named Elizabeth in the 1980s than in any other decade (198,972 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 25,006 |
| 1890s | 33,879 |
| 1900s | 41,708 |
| 1910s | 116,811 |
| 1920s | 139,672 |
| 1930s | 96,480 |
| 1940s | 116,551 |
| 1950s | 165,656 |
| 1960s | 168,920 |
| 1970s | 142,845 |
| 1980s | 198,972 |
| 1990s | 172,693 |
| 2000s | 133,568 |
| 2010s | 94,103 |
| 2020s | 41,893 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Elizabeth is most common in the US
Accounting for when Elizabeth was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Delaware: 1.7 times the national rate (5,223 births since 1910).
- Vermont: 1.6 times the national rate (4,497 births since 1910).
- District of Columbia: 1.5 times the national rate (10,247 births since 1910).
- Alaska: 1.5 times the national rate (2,970 births since 1910).
- Connecticut: 1.5 times the national rate (26,390 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Elizabeth?
About 1,148,000 living American girls and women share the name Elizabeth. Additionally, an estimated 3,200 living American boys and men share the name.
The median age of an American named Elizabeth is 44 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Elizabeth
Elizabeth originates from the ancient Hebrew name Elisheva, recorded in Exodus 6:23 as the name of Aaron's wife and daughter-in-law of Amminadab. In the New Testament Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth was the righteous mother of John the Baptist and cousin of Mary. The Hebrew name was translated into Greek in the Septuagint and New Testament manuscripts as Elisabet, which subsequently passed into ecclesiastical Latin as Elizabeth and spread throughout Christian Europe.
The name achieved widespread European veneration during the Middle Ages through figures like Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231) and Saint Elizabeth of Portugal (1271–1336). In England, its stature was elevated to the highest sovereign prestige during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603), whose golden Elizabethan age transformed the name into an enduring symbol of British national identity and cultural flourishing, reinforced in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by the historic 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
In United States vital statistics, Elizabeth stands in an elite class of unparalleled longevity and consistency. It is one of the extraordinarily rare feminine names never to drop below rank 30 in over 140 consecutive years of Social Security records since 1880. More than 1.6 million American girls have received the name, cherished across generations for its royal dignity and unmatched richness of affectionate diminutives ranging from Beth and Eliza to Liz, Lizzie, and Betty.
Notable people named Elizabeth
- Elizabeth I (1533–1603), Queen of England and Ireland
- Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902), American suffragist and women's rights leader
- Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011), British-American Academy Award-winning actress
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 88.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 99.
- Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Reference link.