Girl Names baby nameElsa

What does the name Elsa mean?

The meaning of the name “Elsa” is: “Joyful; Noble; God is my oath”.

Additional information: Elsa is the shortened form of the Hebrew name “Elisheba” as well as the Greek name “Elisabeth”. It was originally a nickname of Elizabeth, but now used as a given name. In the Christian Old Testament, Elisabeth was the wife of the prophet Zachariah. They became parents to John the Baptist, who was a very important figure in Christian history. The Hebrew Elisheba was the wife of Aaron, the man who took charge of the Israelites after Moses. Elsa, as the pet name of these famous names, shares their heritage. Its meaning is “God is my oath.”

The name Elsa was very popular in the US in 1899, making the top 500 list, before spiraling down to nearly 0 babies named Elsa in 1990. Since the Disney movie Frozen came out in 2013 it has seen an increase again in popularity. In 2014 it was in the top 500 most popular girl’s name list in the US and in Canada, ranked at 88th most popular in the UK, and was in Australia’s top 100 girl’s names as well, marking the best year for the name ever. Elsa is currently a popular name in Sweden - it was #16 in 2006. Many people like to use some of the variations of the name, such as Elsie, Ilsa, Elsy, or Elsee. It can be commonly seen misspelled as “Elssa” or “Ellsa”.

When you search for famous people with the name Elsa, you’ll find that the name of one of the main characters in the opera Lohengrin by Richard Wagner. There is also a song called Supersonic by the band Oasis which uses the name Elsa in the lyrics. Elsa Schiaparelli was a fashion designer of the 1920s and 30s. Elsa Einstein was the second wife of the famous Dr. Albert Einstein. In the Indiana Jones movies, Elsa Schneider was one of the villains that Harrison Ford’s character faced. Elsa was the name of the lioness featured in the book and film 'Born Free'. More recently you’ll hear of Elsa being the star of the animated Disney movie Frozen, where she is the queen of the country Arendelle.

Elsa is a diminutive of Elizabeth, but it also has some nicknames of its own. Among those are Els, Elsie, and Elsy. Many people choose the name as a nice alternative to other similar, yet more popular baby girl names today like Emma and Ella.