Elke

el-kah
Dutch, German, and Frisian, diminutive of Adelheid
"noble"

Elke Origin and Meaning

The name Elke is a girl's name of German, Dutch origin meaning "noble".

Though she has long stood on her own, Elke has many longer cross-cultural connections, to the Dutch/German/Scandinavian Adelheid and Alice and the English Adelaide, as a feminine version of Elkanah and as a Yiddish form of Eleanor.

The name became best known in the U.S. via the Berlin-born Elke Sommer,a popular actress and pin-up girl in the 1960s.

Elke Popularity

Famous People Named Elke

  • Elke SommerGerman actress
  • Elke Cordelia NeidhardtAustralian actress
  • Elke ClijstersBelgian tennis player
  • Elke AberleGerman actress

Elke in Pop Culture

  • Elke Haiencharacter in The Rider on the White Horse by Theodor Storm
  • Elke ElkbergCarl's Swedish girlfriend on animated series Jimmy Neutron
  • The elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species of the Cervidae or deer family in the worldand one of the largest land mammals in North America and eastern Asia.

Elke in Nameberry Blog Posts