Elba - Name Meaning and Popularity -

Meaning of Elba

Elba derives from the Italian toponymic designation of the island of Elba off the Tuscan coast, itself recorded in medieval Latin as Elba and etymologically linked to the Latin albus, “white.” The island’s historical resonance, most prominently marked by Napoleon Bonaparte’s brief exile in 1814, imbues the name with a dimension of resilience and singularity within cultural memory. Phonetically, the name presents a trochaic structure, realized in Italian as /ˈɛlba/ and in English as /ˈɛlbə/, maintaining consistent stress patterns across both languages. In socio-demographic terms, Social Security Administration records document its usage as a feminine given name consistently outside the top 800 since the early 1980s, with annual occurrences oscillating between six and fourteen over the past decade, culminating in a 2024 rank of 940. This quantitative profile underscores Elba’s status as a distinctive yet understated choice, appealing to parents seeking a name of technical clarity and historical depth.