Elsbeth vs Elston

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Elsbeth Elston

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 111 years in which either name was published, Elston for 58 years and Elsbeth for 53 years. The lead changed hands 40 times.

• 1918–1932 Elston ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1933–1953 Elsbeth ahead, apart from 3 short spells
• 1954–1968 Elston ahead
• 1969–1971 Elsbeth ahead
• 1973–1981 Elston ahead
• 1982–2003 Elsbeth ahead, apart from 3 short spells
• 2004–2018 Elston ahead, apart from one short spell

26 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

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 Elstons alive today are over 57; half the Elsbeths are over 36. That is 21 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

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