Elke
Elke is a feminine given name. Different sources give different accounts of its origin. One source describes it as a Low German and East Frisian diminutive of Adelheid, meaning "of noble birth". Another states that it originated as a Yiddish feminine variant of Elkan, which itself came from the Biblical name Elkanah.
In English-speaking countries, the variant Elkie was popularised by the singer Elkie Brooks. Other German variants of the name include Elka and Alke.
In the United States, the 1990 census found that Elke was the 2,588th most common given name for women, being held by about 0.002% of the female population at the time, while the other variants Elkie, Elka, and Alke were not among the names held by at least 0.001% of the female population.
People
Elke
- Elke Aberle, German actress
- Elke Altmann, German politician
- Elke Clijsters, Belgian table tennis player
- Elke Drüll, German field hockey player
- Elke Felten, German sprint canoeist
- Elke Gebhardt, German racing cyclist
- Elke Van Gorp, Belgian football player
- Elke Gryglewski, German political scientist and historian
- Elke Hanel-Torsch, Austrian politician
- Elke Heidenreich, German journalist
- Elke Hipler, German rower
- Elke Hoff, German politician
- Elke-Karin Morciniec, Polish equestrian
- Elke Karsten, Argentine handball player
- Elke König, German financial regulator
- Elke Krystufek, Austrian artist
- Elke Mackenzie, British polar explorer and botanist
- Elke Maravilha, German-born Brazilian actress
- Elke Neidhardt, German-born Australian actress
- Elke Philipp, German Paralympic equestrian
- Elke Radlingsmaier, German fencer
- Elke Rehder, German artist
- Elke Roex, Belgian politician
- Elke Schall, German table tennis player
- Elke Schmitter, German journalist and author
- Elke Sehmisch, German swimmer
- Elke Slagt-Tichelman, Dutch politician
- Elke Sleurs, Belgian politician
- Elke Sommer, German actress
- Elke Reva Sudin, American artist
- Elke Talma, Seychellois swimmer
- Elke Tindemans, Belgian politician
- Elke Tsang Kai-mong, Hong Kong drug trafficker
- Elke Twesten, German politician
- Elke Vanhoof, Belgian BMX rider
- Elke Voelker, German organist
- Elke U. Weber, American business professor
- Elke Winkens, German and Austrian actress
- Elke Wölfling, Austrian hurdler
Elka
- Elka Graham, Australian swimmer
- Elka de Levie, Dutch gymnast
- Elka Nikolova, Bulgarian-born American film director
- Elka Todorova, Bulgarian sociologist and psychologist
- Elka Wardega, Australian makeup artist
Elkie
- Elkie Brooks, English singer
- Elkie Chong, Hong Kong singer
Fictional characters
- Elke Haien, the wife of the main character in the 1888 German novel The Rider on the White Horse by Theodor Storm
- Elka Ostrovsky, from the 2010–2015 American television show Hot in Cleveland
- Fräulein Elke, a travesti performer from the 1972 film ''Cabaret''