This is one of the rankings that future parents expect the most: the Top 20 male first names from The Official First Names 2025published by Éditions First. In this list built from INSEE data, a male first name created a surprise by gaining 17 places in a single year to reach 14th position. Long discreet, it crossed the milestone of 1,000 births in 2020 then confirmed its breakthrough in 2023. This lightning success raises the question: is it a simple fashion effect or the essential future of maternity wards?
This first name is Elioa first name often described as solar. According to The Official First Names 2025this boy name of Greek origin went from 31st place in 2023 to 14th place in the 2025 forecasts. The work also indicates 2,056 births in 2023 and 14,352 carriers in France, while the first name only really appears in the statistics from 2010. A meteoric rise in barely a decade.
How the first name Elio jumped 17 places to the Top 20
In the first edition of the Top 20 male first names 2025, Elio was still in 31st place for the year 2023. The projections of The Official First Names 2025 now place it 14th, a jump of 17 ranks in a single vintage. 2023 is presented as its best year, with 2,056 little boys named Elio at birth in France.
Before this takeoff, Elio remained rare: the guide reports that it did not exceed 1,000 attributions before 2020. Since then, the curve has tended upwards, to the point of competing with sure values like Gabrielstill at the top of the Top 20 male first names 2025. Where established first names hardly move any more, Elio displays the most spectacular progression in the ranking, just ahead of other notable new products such as Marceau or Alma for girls.
Greek origin and solar charm of the first name Elio
Elio comes from Greek, with the meaning of “sun”, and some first name guides also suggest a Hebrew origin where it means “the Lord is my God”. The first name is widely used in Italy, where the singing sound has been part of the landscape for a long time. In France, it only began to be recorded in the 2010s, which still gives it a scent of novelty despite its ancient history.
What parents like is this mix of originality and ease. Elio is short, sweet to pronounce in several languages, with an assumed Mediterranean side. Despite its estimated 14,352 carriers in France, it remains much less widespread than the great classics. In the current trend for short and bright first names, it ticks a lot of boxes without giving the impression of a first name that is too obvious or too socially marked.
How to read the 2025 rankings around the first name Elio
Important to know: the Top 20 male first names for 2025
The Official First Names 2025 is a projection built by Stéphanie Rapoport on INSEE data. Other rankings, such as that of the Journal des Femmes, may therefore place Elio in a slightly different rank.