The baby name Elphaba isn’t trending – but there’s no question that the character is a big deal right now.
Thanks to Kit for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME ELPHABA MEAN?
Gregory Maguire wrote his novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West in 1995.
It was his first book for adults.
Wicked became a bestseller, with sequels following. Maguire was inspired by the 1900 L. Frank Baum novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which also had plenty of sequels, as well as the 1939 big screen adaptation.
That movie cast a young Judy Garland as Dorothy. She went somewhere over the rainbow and followed the yellow brick road to save the day and vanquish the wicked witch in the story we all know and love.
But what if there’s more to it than that?
Maguire gave us the more, and it became a sensation – and a sensational Broadway musical in 2003.
The book and musical told the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Despite the flying monkeys and cackling laugh, we really didn’t know much about her at all.
In fact, while the Good Witch Glinda was famous, the Wicked Witch of the West didn’t have a given name at all.
In an homage to the character’s original creator, Lyman Frank Baum, Maguire named her for Baum’s initials: L Fa Ba. Elphaba.
NAMES IN OZ
Of course, all the names of Oz are quite specific, whether created by Baum or Maguire.
There’s Fiyero and Nessarose and Boq. Galinda, who became Glinda. Madame Morrible.
The wizard’s fantastic full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, though he hails from regular old Omaha, Nebraska.
Elphaba fits right in.
THE STORY OF WICKED
Mild spoilers ahead.
In brief, we meet Elphaba Thropp when she’s just a baby – born with green skin, for reasons we learn early on.
Our girl grows up, isolated and looked down upon.
But she’s also smart … and quite gifted, too.
By a twist of fate, Elphaba and Nessarose both enroll at Shiz University, where they meet Fiyero, Galinda, and a host of other characters.
Madame Morrible discovers Elphaba’s talents and suggests that the Wizard himself – someone Elphaba has long longed to meet – will take an interest in her.
Sure enough, Elphaba is summoned to the Emerald City.
But that’s where she discovers that all is not as it seems.
Instead of a happy ending, Elphaba defies gravity, acquires a flying broom, and exits, flying monkeys in pursuit.
And our ideas about who’s really the villain of the story? Those are all turned upside down.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME ELPHABA?
Despite the success of the book and musical, the baby name Elphaba has never been used as a girl’s name. At least not in numbers sufficient to register in the US Social Security Administration data.
For privacy reasons, the Social Security Administration only shares names given to at least five girls or boys for any given year of birth.
That doesn’t mean there are actually zero Elphabas. Nancy reported one born in Iowa in the year 2012. Chances are there have been a few others – probably.
But when it comes to popularity? Elphaba is about a rare as a baby’s name can be.
ABOUT ELPHIE
Let’s talk about nicknames.
When Galinda and Elphaba finally become friends, fans know that Galinda calls her new bestie Elphie.
And Elphie has history as a girl’s name in the US. Back in 1915, five girls were named Elphie. That’s still close to zero, but it’s more than the baby name Elphaba.
Spell it Elfie, and it even dipped into the US Top 1000 – twice – during the nineteenth century.
In fact, Elfie was used in small numbers from the 1880s into the 1920s.
The reason? Nothing to do with Oz at all.
Instead, Elfie was short for the German Elfriede, Elfreda, or maybe Elfrida. They’re old names from elements meaning something like “elf” and “strength.”
Some of those longer names registered in the US data, too – at least into the early twentieth century.
There is a Hebrew masculine name, Eliphaz or Eliphas, in the Old Testament. It’s easy to imagine a feminine form leading to the nickname Elphie.
ON THE BIG SCREEN
Now a movie in two parts, the first half of Wicked debuted in November 2024.
Ariana Grande plays Galinda/Glinda, the role made famous by Kristin Chenoweth. And Cynthia Erivo steps into Idina Menzel’s shoes.
Theater fans held their breath to see if director Jon M. Chu could possibly capture the magical world and unique charm of the musical. So far, reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.
DEFIANT HERO NAME
Here’s the thing: movie characters rarely influence what we name our children. Why? Because we have to really hear a name repeated, over time, for it to go from outlandish invention to familiar favorite.
Khaleesi, for example, transformed across seasons from a Game of Thrones rarity to a rising choice for our daughters.
Given how unusual the name of Elphaba Thropp is as of 2024, it feels like a stretch to imagine it trending.
And yet, she’s an incredibly inspiring character, as are the lyrics she sings, and the actress that brings her to life. It’s hard not to sing along to anthems like “Defying Gravity.”
Which raises the possibility that we’ll meet a little Elphaba – or even Elphie – sometime soon.
