Ilsa
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Meaning
“God is my oath (German/Scandinavian variant of Elisabeth); immortalized by Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942)”
The story
One film gave Ilsa to the world. The name is a German and Scandinavian short form of Elisabeth, keeping the ancient Hebrew meaning, God is my oath, and its face belongs forever to Ingrid Bergman, whose Ilsa Lund was the luminous, torn heart of Casablanca in 1942, the movie many still call the most romantic ever made. Yet the name never followed the fame. It barely registers in American records before the 1960s and has stayed at a whisper ever since, decade after decade, never rising, never quite vanishing. That makes Ilsa a genuinely rare pick with a five-star pedigree, instantly recognizable yet almost never encountered, carrying one of cinema's great love stories wherever it goes. Of all the names in all the world, hardly anyone walks in wearing this one.
How popular is Ilsa around the world?
In the United States, 90 babies were named Ilsa between 2020 and 2025. At the 2022 census, 3,923 people in Brazil were named Ilsa, ranked 3,235th, with a median age of 60.
Ilsa is on the official records of the United States, Brazil, Austria, England and Wales and Spain.
United States
1 in 240,000
In the United States, 90 babies were named Ilsa between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ilsa has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 53,000
At the 2022 census, 3,923 people in Brazil were named Ilsa, ranked 3,235th, with a median age of 60.
Among people named Ilsa living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s 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
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Ilsa 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 3 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)
England and Wales
1 in 98,000
In England and Wales, 6 girls named Ilsa were born in 2025, ranked 3,705th 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
Spain
1 in 1.3M
In Spain, 35 residents are named Ilsa, ranked 19,175th among women, with a mean age of 34.1 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
Canada
last on record 2023
Ilsa is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
Montevideo City
last on record 1999
Ilsa 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 2 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
South Australia
last on record 2010
Ilsa is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Ilsa
Most people given the name Ilsa in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Ilsa deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ilsa 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 Ilsa fits with your family’s names and surname.
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