# Elwood (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/elwood/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “elf”, “rule” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɛlwʊd/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Allwood, Ellwood |
| US babies named this | 20,839 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 20,786 / 53 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 499, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From the Middle English personal name Elwald, Elwold, Alwold, which is composed of the Old English elements ælf (“elf”) and weald (“rule”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 12 | 2,826 |
| 1925 | 6 | 4,584 |
| 1926 | 5 | 5,076 |
| 1927 | 7 | 3,979 |
| 1928 | 5 | 4,934 |
| 1929 | 5 | 4,794 |
| 1930 | 5 | 4,749 |
| 1933 | 8 | 3,197 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 17 | 5,271 |
| 2012 | 20 | 4,745 |
| 2013 | 29 | 3,603 |
| 2014 | 36 | 3,107 |
| 2015 | 52 | 2,440 |
| 2016 | 51 | 2,485 |
| 2017 | 43 | 2,812 |
| 2018 | 39 | 3,011 |
| 2019 | 33 | 3,440 |
| 2020 | 42 | 2,856 |
| 2021 | 50 | 2,595 |
| 2022 | 43 | 2,931 |
| 2023 | 41 | 3,021 |
| 2024 | 71 | 2,104 |
| 2025 | 81 | 1,921 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 24 | 1,087 |
| 2012 | 37 | 837 |
| 2013 | 28 | 1,001 |
| 2014 | 32 | 916 |
| 2015 | 31 | 950 |
| 2016 | 35 | 884 |
| 2017 | 32 | 943 |
| 2018 | 39 | 810 |
| 2019 | 29 | 974 |
| 2020 | 25 | 1,085 |
| 2021 | 33 | 907 |
| 2022 | 21 | 1,268 |
| 2023 | 13 | 1,799 |
| 2024 | 25 | 1,132 |
| 2025 | 15 | 1,705 |

## People named Elwood

- Elwood Haynes, American inventor (1857–1925)
- Elwood V. Jensen, American biologist (1920-2012)
- Elwood Hillis, American politician (1926–2023)
- Elwood Mead, American academic and politician (1858-1936)
- Claude Shannon, American mathematician and information theorist (1916–2001)
- Robert Bly, American poet, author, and activist (1926–2021)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.