Elio
Meaning
“Italian form of Roman name Aelius, popularly linked to Greek 'helios' (sun)”
The story
Elio is the Italian descendant of Aelius, an old Roman family name; the emperor Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus. Italian ears have long linked it to helios, the Greek sun, which is how a patrician surname became a sun name, though the link is popular etymology rather than settled fact, and the name wears it anyway. For generations it stayed a Mediterranean classic, familiar in Italy and Spain, rare in the US. Then André Aciman gave the name to the seventeen-year-old at the center of Call Me by Your Name, the 2017 film made Elio Perlman unforgettable, and American usage moved from rare to genuinely current within a few years. US records show Elio at its most current in the 2020s, running several times its 2010s pace. Pixar naming its 2025 space adventure Elio suggests the moment is still widening.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Elio peaked in the 2020s.
Popularity in Brazil
29,318 people · the #838 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 6,944 · median age 55
Among people named Elio living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 159 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Elio
Most people given the name Elio in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Elio deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Elio truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Elio fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Does Elio fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Elio to your family’s tree →