Elaine
Pronounced AH0 L EY1 N (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 1947
- 145 years in use
- 4 spellings
How popular is Elaine?
Elaine is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 266,147 children — the 171st most common girls' name on record.
It peaked in 1947, went quiet for most of a century, and is climbing again. Its best single year was 1947, when 7,103 children were given it.
Four other spellings are counted in that total — Alane, Alaine, Alayne and one more — because they are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Elaine and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Alane
- Alaine
- Alayne
- Alain
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- AH0 L EY1 N · IH0 L EY1 N · IY2 L EY1 N
- Stress pattern:
- 01 · 01 · 21
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Elaine
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Elaine
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Elaine?
- Elaine ranks 171st among girls' names in US records, with 266,147 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 6,215.
- Is Elaine a unisex name?
- No. Elaine is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Elaine most popular?
- 1947, when 7,103 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Elaine spelled?
- Alane, Alaine, Alayne, Alain. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.