The name Elsa has rocketed in popularity for US newborns, according to records collated by the Social Security Administration, and the numbers of children being given the name is at its highest level as far back as the SSA’s data is available.
As reported by the New York Times, this surge in popularity is undoubtedly due to the enormously successful Disney animation Frozen, which was released in the US in November 2013. As a result, 2014 saw 1131 girls given the name, landing at number 286 in the popularity list – up from 528 the year before.
The SSA’s records reveal that the last time Elsa was ranked that high was in 1897, when it stood at number 251. It last featured in the top 500 in 1917, and entered a gradual decline throughout the 20th century, though regaining a little lost ground in the 1950s and 60s. Its popularity slumped in the 1980s and 90s, reaching a low point in 1998, when it came in at number 999 on the list. However, it recovered during the 2000s.
The same records show no particular Disney-related uptick for Anna, Frozen’s other main character, though it was already a far more popular name in its own right, throughout the entire 20th and 21st century. In 2014, it was recorded as the 34th most popular name, with 5639 births, one place higher than the year before. In contrast, neither Sven nor Olaf, the two other main characters have any presence in the list: Sven has never been in the top 1000, and Olaf last featured in the top 1000 male names in 1921.
