Frozen effect: Elsa breaks into top 500 baby names

Washington

The name Elsa has rocketed in popularity for US newborns, according to records collated by the Social Security Administration, and the numbers of children being given the name is at its highest level as far back as the SSA’s data is available.

As reported by the New York Times, this surge in popularity is undoubtedly due to the enormously successful Disney animation Frozen, which was released in the US in November 2013. As a result, 2014 saw 1131 girls given the name, landing at number 286 in the popularity list – up from 528 the year before.

The SSA’s records reveal that the last time Elsa was ranked that high was in 1897, when it stood at number 251.