Elsie
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Meaning
“God is my oath”
The story
Elsie is a Scottish pet form of Elspeth, Elizabeth's northern branch, carrying the same ancient oath, God is my promise. And it is a giant among the revived classics: about 183,000 American girls across the record, nearly 39,500 in the 1910s and over 42,000 in the 1920s alone. Then the long fade every vintage name knows, down to a floor of about 1,170 in the 1980s, a long generation in the drawer, which is exactly the resting period the grandmother rule requires. The return runs 1,500, 2,600, 9,100, and already 10,100 so far this decade, past the full 2010s. It rides the revival wave it helped define, alongside Millie and Sadie. In our records it is a girls' name at about 183,400 to 860. The oath underneath is as old as the Bible; the wearer just got younger again.
The formal names behind Elsie
Elsie is an established short form of each of these names.
Elizabeth · Hebrew origin · "God is my oath," from the Hebrew Elisheva; the great durable classic of English girl names, worn by two reigning queens and rarely out of the US top 30 in over a century of records. Its nickname wealth is unmatched: Liz, Beth, Eliza, Betsy, Libby
Eliza · Hebrew origin · pet form of Elizabeth, "God is my oath"
Elsie across languages
One shared root links 26 names across 6 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Elisheva, "my God is an oath"
The constellation
19 more branches of this family
How popular is Elsie around the world?
In the United States, 10,081 babies were named Elsie between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 1,700 girls named Elsie were born in 2025, the 8th most common name among girls that year.
Elsie is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Scotland, South Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, New South Wales, Canada, Norway, Mexico City, France, Austria, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 2,200
In the United States, 10,081 babies were named Elsie between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Elsie peaked in the 1890s and the 1900s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 340
In England and Wales, 1,700 girls named Elsie were born in 2025, the 8th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
1 in 440
In Scotland, 104 girls named Elsie were registered in 2024, the 31st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
1 in 4802017
In South Australia, 38 girls were registered as Elsie in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 620
In Ireland, 88 girls named Elsie were born in 2025, the 55th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
New Zealand
1 in 780
In New Zealand, 74 girls named Elsie were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
New South Wales
#24 · 2025
In New South Wales, 187 girls named Elsie were registered in 2025, ranked 24th in that year’s top 100 for girls.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Canada
1 in 2,000
In Canada, 187 girls named Elsie were born in 2024, the 144th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Norway
1 in 3,300register 2026
In Norway, 8 girls were given the name Elsie in 2025.
share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Mexico City City
1 in 24,000
In Mexico City, there were 5 registrations of Elsie in 2022.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
France
1 in 64,000
In France, about 10 girls named Elsie were born in 2025, ranked 2,641st among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Elsie was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 520,000
In Spain, 87 residents are named Elsie, ranked 8,709th among women, with a mean age of 51.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 179 people in Brazil were named Elsie, ranked 27,483rd, with a median age of 62.
Among people named Elsie living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1950s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Chile
last on record 2020
Elsie is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Montevideo City
last on record 1960
Elsie is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Poland
last on record 2015
Elsie is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Puerto Rico
last on record 2004
Elsie is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 10 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Not on the record in Argentina: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
When you meet Elsie
People given the name Elsie in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1940 to 2025. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Elsie travels
British and London · nickname-style for Elizabeth
Chinese American · diminutive of Elizabeth: God is my oath; common among early Chinatown-generation women, gentle and old-fashioned
Keep exploring
Names like Elsie · British and London baby names · Chinese American baby names · What is Elsie short for?
The Elsie deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Elsie 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 Elsie fits with your family’s names and surname.
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