Name meaning & stats
Else
Else means “my God is an oath” (Hebrew origin). 190 US babies since 1940, peak 2013. Notable Elses are 1.5× over-represented as professors.
What it means
“my God is an oath”
HebrewSpelling of Elise
Elise around the world
- Элиза · Russian
- Ελίζ · Greek
- إيليس · Arabic
- エリーゼ · Japanese
- 艾莉丝 · Chinese
- Eliška · Czech
- Elisabet · Icelandic
- Élise
- Elisse
- Elize · Dutch
Famous Elises
- Elise Mertens · Belgian tennis player
- Elise Stefanik · United States Representative from New York since 2015 (Republican)
Elise’s name day
- April 17 · Norway
- September 20 · Sweden
In US birth records
Peak year: 2013
190 US babies were named Else between 1940 and 2025.
Else around the world
- Norway: 7,000 babies since 1945, peak 1945, No. 190 in 2025
- Sweden: 89 babies since 1998, peak 2016, No. 585 in 2022
- France: 965 babies since 1900, peak 1912
From official birth registries. Sources are listed on About the data.
Where Elses end up
| Career | vs expected | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Politician | 1.4× | Medium · 11 people |
| Professor | 1.5× | Low · 8 people |
| Writer | 1.2× | Low · 7 people |
| Actor | 0.8× | Low · 5 people |
Among notable women who are professors, Elses show up 1.5× as often as you'd expect from how common the name is.
Notable people of every nationality born 1940–2005 (Wikidata). Patterns, not destiny.
Other spellings
1 in 784 Elises spell it Else
Names that sound the same, grouped by Heyotag. Share of US babies since 1940.
Name twins (peaked around 2013)