US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025
Elizabeth: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Elizabeth for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Elizabeth was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 73 years, between 1880 and 2013, reaching #3. Births peaked in 1990, when 20,750 baby girls were named Elizabeth, so by peak year it is a Millennials name.
Elizabeth in the US top 10, by year
Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Elizabeth (1990).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1883 | 3 (1880–1882) | #4 |
| Lost Generation | 18 (1883–1900) | #3 |
| Greatest Generation | 24 (1901–1925) | #6 |
| Generation X | 1 (1980) | #9 |
| Millennials | 16 (1981–1996) | #8 |
| Generation Z | 9 (1997–2008) | #9 |
| Generation Alpha | 2 (2012–2013) | #10 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name Elizabeth most popular?
By number of babies, in 1990, when 20,750 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #3 and spent 73 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Elizabeth?
Its peak year, 1990, falls in Millennials (1981–1996). Its 73 top-10 years fall in: before 1883 (3), Lost Generation (18), Greatest Generation (24), Generation X (1), Millennials (16), Generation Z (9), Generation Alpha (2).
How many people have been named Elizabeth?
SSA counted 1,688,757 girls named Elizabeth born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Elizabeth are alive today.