Elaine
2025 SSA
About Elaine
This old Scottish form of Helen has had quite a history, going from appearing as one of the shining heroines of the Arthurian legends, the princess who fell in love with Sir Lancelot and became the mother of Sir Galahad, referred to as 'Elaine the fair' and 'Elaine the lovable', to being the name of the most famous of New York's celebrity restaurants, to being the archetypal New York neurotic on Seinfeld.
Spelled Elain, it's the name of a character in A Court of Thorns and Roses, which is responsible for some of its current popularity.
Elaine is a homophone for French Helene, just one of many names that a was imported to Scotland during the centuries that Scotland and France had a mutual enemy in England.
Elaine entered the Top 100 in the early 1920s, and remained there for close to forty years, peaking at Number 42. Now, after a long slump, Elaine is back. Our Berry Trends tool predicts it will be back in the Top 100 by 2040.
Reasons for Elaine's comeback: the popular Lainey nickname and the rise of all El- names.
Pronounced ih-LAYN.
As of October 2026, Elaine ranked #305 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #42 in 1938, Nameberry popularity #220.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #650 | 439 | 245.8 |
| 2015 | #675 | 423 | 237 |
| 2016 | #604 | 498 | 281 |
| 2017 | #591 | 507 | 293.7 |
| 2018 | #635 | 470 | 276.3 |
| 2019 | #563 | 545 | 324.7 |
| 2020 | #519 | 583 | 360.6 |
| 2021 | #486 | 647 | 394.3 |
| 2022 | #464 | 682 | 415.8 |
| 2023 | #381 | 807 | 502.9 |
| 2024 | #369 | 843 | 520.3 |
| 2025 | #305 | 1,007 | 626.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Elaine.
- Cecelia
- Adele
- Eileen
- Meredith
- Camille
- Celine
- Francesca
- Anneliese
- Corinne
- Bridget
- Leona
- Valerie
- Simone
- Gwendolyn
- Camilla
- Madeleine
- Eleanora
- Gwyneth
- Nadia
- Isobel
Elaine on lists
Famous Elaines
- (Katherine) Elaine Hendrix
American actress
- Elaine Iva May
American director/actress
- Elaine Yiu
Hong Kong actress
- Elaine Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff)
English singer and actress
- Elaine Ingham
American microbiologist
- Elaine Hamilton
O'Neal, American painter
- Elaine Lobl (E.L.) Konigsburg
American children's novelist
- Elaine Miles
American actress
- Elaine Stritch
American actress and singer
- Elaine Marie Catherine de Kooning (born Elaine Marie Fried)
American painter, wife of painter Willem de Kooning
- Elaine Jin
Chinese actress
- Elaine Youngs
American Olympic beach volleyball player
- Elaine Tyler May
American historian and author
- Elaine Showalter
American literary critic
- Elaine Fifield
Australian ballerina
Elaine in pop culture
- Elaine Marie Benes
a main character on TV's "Seinfeld"'
- Elaine of Astolat
Arthurian legendary figure
- Elaine Jenkinson
from the British TV series "Broadchurch"
- Lady Elaine
character in Barbara Cartland's book The Ruthless Rake
- Elaine Austen
character in video game "Sims 3" Moonlight Bay
- Elaine Robinson
character in book/movie "The Graduate"
- "The Exploits of Elaine
" 1914 film serial
- "Elaine
" song by ABBA
- "Miss Elaine"
song by RunâD.M.C.
- Elaine Marley
main character in video game series Monkey Island
- "Elaine
" opera by Herman Bemberg
- Elaine of Corbenic
legendary Arthurian figure
- Elaine "Ellie
" character in novel "Avalon High"
- "Elaine's Big Day
" episode of TV's 'New Girl'
- Elaine Dickinson
character in the movie "Airplane!"
- Elaine
character in the manga/anime "Seven Deadly Sins"
- Elaine
main character in the movie 'The Love Witch'
- Elaine
character in series "New Girl"
- Lady Elaine Fairchilde
Puppet from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”