Given name & surname
Elian
“a spirited man”
Elian is used as a given name and a surname. One Spanish interpretation is “a spirited man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Spanish interpretation is “a spirited man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Spanish.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1988. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Elian through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 15,380
- 15,268 boys · 112 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 2,457 babies
- 2025
- 2,457
- #147 for boys · #10,326 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +115%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 2,448 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 147 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 116.1% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 9 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (506). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 6,543 as a first name in 2020; 341 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Elian’s family of names
Elian has a related form in Elien. Elian has a related form in Elion. Elian has a related form in Eliun.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Elian
- Elian LehtoFinnish alpine skierborn 2000
- Emily CollinsBritish botanist (1858-1945)
- Elián HerreraBaseball player from the Dominican Republicborn 1985
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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