Elżbieta
A name nearly everyone in Poland has met, carried by over 400,000 women, but handed down to fewer girls with each passing year. At root it's Hebrew: "my God is an oath".
Elżbieta Pronunciation
Elżbieta is pronounced elzhb-YE-tah (/ɛlʐbˈjɛta/).
What Elżbieta means
Where Elżbieta comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Elżbieta comes from the Hebrew Elisheva, and its old meaning reads as "my God is an oath." The El at the front names God, the same element found in Michał and Gabriel. In the Book of Exodus, Elisheva is the wife of Aaron, and hers is one of the earliest lives tied to the name.
From Hebrew the name passed into Greek and Latin, then across Europe. English made Elizabeth, French shaped Élisabeth, and the Slavic east gave Yelizavieta, a variant a Polish reader knows from Russian. Each language kept the oath and reworked the sound.
In Poland it shortens fast. Ela and Elka do the everyday work. On a school register the full Elżbieta stands in one column, while classmates reach for Ela in the next breath.
How many people are named Elżbieta
1 in 55 women in Poland is named Elżbieta. 410,042 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #18 among female names.
Elżbieta's popularity over time
96 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #252 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #18 name among living women, even as it slips to #252 among newborns.
Where Elżbieta is most popular
Elżbieta is most popular in Masovian, 51% above the national average (251 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Silesian (+41%) and Lower Silesian (+25%). It is least common in Świętokrzyskie and Subcarpathian, 65% and 58% below average respectively.
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Masovian251 girls born+51%
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Silesian151 girls born+41%
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Lower Silesian92 girls born+25%
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Pomeranian78 girls born+13%
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Greater Poland99 girls born−2%
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Podlaskie28 girls born−9%
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West Pomeranian35 girls born−12%
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Lublin40 girls born−17%
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Lesser Poland85 girls born−20%
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Warmian-Masurian27 girls born−20%
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Opole17 girls born−21%
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Łódź40 girls born−33%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian27 girls born−47%
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Lubusz12 girls born−49%
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Subcarpathian24 girls born−58%
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Świętokrzyskie9 girls born−65%
Elżbieta as a middle name
Elżbieta is a first name for 410,042 women in Poland and a middle name for another 312,408, a 57/43 split — almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 8th, between Małgorzata (332,804) and Magdalena (301,969).
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6
354,803Teresa
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7
332,804Małgorzata
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8312,408Elżbieta
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9
301,969Magdalena
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10
275,512Agnieszka