Elden

Where Elden comes from

Elden hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1884
    First appearance
    #848 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1934
    Peak, #496
    133 babies named Elden — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1944
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #801.
  4. 1968
    Elden Campbell born
    American basketball player
  5. 1977
    Elden Henson born
    American actor
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Elden Henson · American actor, born 1977
  • Elden Campbell · American basketball player, 1968–2025
  • Elden Francis Curtiss · Catholic archbishop, born 1932
  • Elden Auker · American baseball player, 1910–2006
  • Elden H. Johnson · United States Army Medal of Honor recipient, 1921–1944

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.