Elvira

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled אלוירה in IL Israel, Ელვირა in GE Georgia and אלווירה in LV Latvia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Elvira is also recorded as 9 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name374K records spelled Elvira16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Germany, Brazil, Netherlands

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written El'Vira, Elvīra, Elvíra, Ëlvïrä, Êlvîrâ

• Russian given name61K records spelled Elvira97 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Türkiye

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Croatian

  Also written Эльвира, Ельвіра, El'Vira, Элвира, Ельвира

• Catalan given name34K records spelled Elvira3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Andorra

  Also written Ilibéris, Iliberis

• Finnish given name28K records spelled Elvira5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Hungary, Slovenia, Philippines

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Elvīra

• Indonesian given name24K records spelled Elvira4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Italy

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Elvira, Elvira'

• a separate given name21K records spelled Elvira9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Russia

  Also written El'Vira, Ėl'Vira, Elvīra, Elvíra, Élvira

• French given name21K records spelled Elvira2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Spain

  Also written El'Vira

• Norwegian Bokmål given name13K records spelled Elvira8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, United States

  Languages: Norwegian Bokmål, Danish, Swedish

  Also written Elvīra, Elvíra

• Albanian given name8.0K records spelled Elvira5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Albania, United States, Italy, Serbia

  Also written Elvîrã, Elvíra, Elvirå, Elvírå

57 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Elvira is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Spanish, Elvira. This is of Gmc origin, probably composed of the elementsgail happy, content (cf. Gale i), or perhaps adel noble (cf. Edel), + zcertrue.

  as a name·A dictionary of surnames

• In Spanish, vira. This is of Gmc origin, probably composed of the elements gail happy, content (cf. Gale i), or perhaps adel noble (cf. Edel), + wer true.

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

• In English, A female given name from Spanish, in quiet use since the 19th century.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, Germánico Gailiviro: 'lanza amable, cortés'; de gaila 'lanza arrojadiza' + vers 'amable'

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

• In Italian, Nome spagnolo, diffuso in Italia da oltre un secolo; etimologia incerta, forse femminile di Alvarito.

  as a name·Dizionario Dei Nomi e Cognomi Italiani

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Elvira of Castileb. 1081Countess of Toulouse
• Elvira of Leonb. 1103ESQueen of Sicily
• Elvira de Hidalgob. 1891ESoperatic soprano and pedagogue (1891–1980)
• Elvira Popescub. 1894RORomanian-born French stage and film actress and theatre director (1894–1993)
• Irán Eoryb. 1939ATnot in their usual nameIranian actress (1939–2002)
• Elvira Ozolinab. 1939RUSoviet javelin thrower
• Elvira Lindob. 1962ESSpanish writer
• Elvira Nabiullinab. 1963RURussian economist and Governor of the Bank of Russia
• Elvira Mínguezb. 1965ESSpanish actress
• Marina Berlusconib. 1966ITnot in their usual nameItalian businesswoman

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,176 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Elvira?

We estimate roughly 119 thousand people bear Elvira (counting its spellings and scripts) across 16 countries in our records.

In which country does Elvira have the most bearers?

Elvira is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled elvira.

Where is Elvira most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Elvira is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 524 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Elvira compared with other names?

In Argentina, Elvira is the 239th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Elvira a male or female name?

Elvira is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Elvira mean?

Recorded meaning: Visigothic, probably meaning ‘foreign true’.