# People named Elvis **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653 "2002-09-09T14:12:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/1 "2002-09-09T14:12:59Z")
It seems like people named Elvis fall into three categories: 1. Elvis Presley 2. People named after Elvis Presley 3. People who use Elvis Costello as a professional pseudoynm but who were born Declan MacManus Who in the world is or was named Elvis before The King became famous? Is the name that unique? Of what ethnicity does it come? Is it just the most likely name that would be thought of by a couple named Vernon and Gladys? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/2 "2002-09-09T14:19:29Z")
The Mighty & Sensuous Power & Maximum Mojo of the King of Rock 'N Roll decends upon feeble Mankind as a generous gift from Heaven. **Unca Cecil** gots a lot of it. Do not question the glory of Elvis-ness. šŸ†’ PS-- Somebody else we know also has Elvis-ness in him. But, modesty prohibits me from saying who. Also šŸ†’ . ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/3 "2002-09-09T14:35:05Z")
> [@](#): > > PS-- Somebody else we know also has Elvis-ness in him. But, modesty prohibits me from saying who. Of course! \ šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/4 "2002-09-09T15:30:19Z")
In the late 1950s, my alma mater (West Virginia University) had a president named Elvis Stahr. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/5 "2002-09-09T16:09:26Z")
Well, thereā€™s an **Elvis Grbac** , ā€œGrbacā€ is a Croatian name, And when you plug ā€œElvisā€ + ā€œCroatiaā€ into google, you get an amazing 7,530 results: [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=elvis+croatia](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=elvis+croatia) ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/6 "2002-09-09T16:15:14Z")
Many of those results are to Croatian people named ā€œElvisā€, so Iā€™m going to conclude that either: 1. Elvis began (ethnically) as a Croatian name, that the ([non-slavic](http://www.elvispresleyonline.com/html/elvis_genealogy.html)) Presleys chose to name their child; or, 2. Croatians and Croatian-Americans are largely Elvis fans, and rabidly so to the point that many were named Elvis _in anticipation of_ the Rock-n-Roll Sensation Himself. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/7 "2002-09-09T17:12:04Z")
What about merengue superstar Elvis Crespo? How did he get named that? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/8 "2002-09-09T18:48:05Z")
In my motherā€™s family there are a couple occurences of ā€œAlvisā€/ā€œAlvusā€ which is pretty close. All very pre-The King. On my wifeā€™s side thereā€™s an ā€œElvaā€ which is one of the female forms of the name. But weā€™re talking pre-1930s. Nothing similar in recent decades. A lot of common names from a couple generations ago are frowned upon. My wife has ā€œSophroniaā€ and ā€œEuphramiaā€ (twice and in different branches!) in her genealogy. ---
**Author:** ![CzechHistory411](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@CzechHistory411](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CzechHistory411)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/9 "2002-09-10T06:32:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CookingWithGas \* > \*\*It seems like people named Elvis fall into three categories: > > 1. Elvis Presley > 2. People named after Elvis Presley > 3. People who use Elvis Costello as a professional pseudoynm but who were born Declan MacManus\*\* I seem to recall that Mr. MacManus styled his monicker after that of the King, and so there may be only two categories. Searching for citeā€¦ aha, found it on [allmusic](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Buzapqj2bojta): > [@](#): > > Riviera signed Costello to Stiff as a solo artist in 1977; the singer/songwriter adopted the name Elvis Costello at this time, taking his first name from Elvis Presley and his last name from his motherā€™s maiden name. ā€“CH ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/10 "2002-09-10T06:51:30Z")
Our friend the Social Security Death Index shows that in 1935, the year Elvis Presley saw the light of day in Tupelo, Mississippi, there were at least 12 other men named Elvis born that year. (The SSDI includes only deceased persons.) In 1955, the last year of Elvis Presleyā€™s relative anonymity, there were at least 3 men born with the name Elvis. Going back to 1900, where we can get a better estimate of the actual number of Elvises born that year, the SSDI has 55 men by that name. The states in which their Social Security numbers were issued (in 1936 or later): New York: 1 Ohio: 2 Indiana: 4 Illinois: 6 Michigan: 5 Kentucky: 3 Tennessee: 6 Alabama: 1 Mississippi: 2 Arkansas: 1 Oklahoma: 5 Texas: 9 Missouri: 6 Kansas: 2 California: 1 District of Columbia: 1 ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/11 "2002-09-10T06:59:59Z")
I once known a girl called Elvisa Poor thing. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-named-elvis/127653/12 "2002-09-10T07:10:00Z")
From a dictionary of first names: **ELVIS** male English Pronounced: EL-vis Meaning unknown. Possibly a form of ALVIS or ELWIN or it might be derived from the surname Elwes.