The longevity of the Elven Empire has made the Elven Age the most reliable way of knowing when something happened. An Elven Age ends only once no living elf can remember the previous age's leaders. The first Elven Age was not called such at the time, referring to themselves simply as the “Elven Age.” Only by the Third Elven Age did this parlance come into common use within the empire, and by the fifth it was the standard across the oceanic expanse.