Elza vs Elzie

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Elza Elzie

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 140 years in which either name was published, Elzie for 99 years and Elza for 41 years. The lead changed hands 27 times.

• 1880–1889 Elza ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1897–1986 Elzie ahead, apart from 5 short spells
• 1990–2001 Elza ahead, apart from one short spell
• 2003–2005 Elzie ahead
• 2006–2020 Elza ahead
• 2021–2023 Elzie ahead

15 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 Elzies alive today are over 67; half the Elzas are over 54. That is 13 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Elza Kentucky (20.4×), West Virginia (11.5×), Missouri (6.1×)
• Elzie Kentucky (12.3×), Oklahoma (5.9×), Georgia (5.2×)

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

• Elza vs Elzora
• Elzie vs Elzora