# Elijah (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/elijah/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “yahweh is my god” |
| Pronunciation | /ɪˈlaɪd͡ʒə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Lije |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 381,915 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 380,611 / 1,304 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 24,043, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Hebrew אליהו (Eliyahu, literally “Yahweh is my god”). Doublet of Ilya and Iliya. Compare Joel. See also Arabic إلياس.

## What it means

Elijah is grouped under god.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 33 | 4,390 |
| 2012 | 28 | 5,000 |
| 2013 | 33 | 4,355 |
| 2014 | 34 | 4,295 |
| 2015 | 28 | 4,894 |
| 2016 | 27 | 5,037 |
| 2017 | 28 | 4,842 |
| 2018 | 33 | 4,260 |
| 2019 | 21 | 5,848 |
| 2020 | 31 | 4,380 |
| 2021 | 28 | 4,755 |
| 2022 | 32 | 4,401 |
| 2023 | 20 | 6,025 |
| 2024 | 26 | 5,056 |
| 2025 | 15 | 7,226 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14,001 | 13 |
| 2012 | 13,914 | 13 |
| 2013 | 13,829 | 11 |
| 2014 | 13,886 | 11 |
| 2015 | 13,710 | 11 |
| 2016 | 13,982 | 9 |
| 2017 | 13,449 | 8 |
| 2018 | 13,020 | 7 |
| 2019 | 13,436 | 5 |
| 2020 | 13,238 | 4 |
| 2021 | 12,845 | 4 |
| 2022 | 12,094 | 5 |
| 2023 | 11,523 | 5 |
| 2024 | 11,238 | 8 |
| 2025 | 11,111 | 7 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 3 | 5,061 |
| 2012 | 3 | 5,876 |
| 2016 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2017 | 3 | 5,765 |
| 2019 | 3 | 5,591 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 701 | 91 |
| 2012 | 792 | 82 |
| 2013 | 908 | 69 |
| 2014 | 1,125 | 53 |
| 2015 | 1,294 | 46 |
| 2016 | 1,412 | 44 |
| 2017 | 1,511 | 41 |
| 2018 | 1,519 | 41 |
| 2019 | 1,621 | 38 |
| 2020 | 1,668 | 30 |
| 2021 | 1,657 | 33 |
| 2022 | 1,549 | 33 |
| 2023 | 1,482 | 31 |
| 2024 | 1,661 | 23 |
| 2025 | 1,659 | 23 |

## In other languages

- Armenian: Եղիա
- Catalan: Elies
- Czech: Eliáš, Eliášek
- Danish: Elias
- Estonian: Elias
- Finnish: Elias
- French: Élie
- German: Elias
- Greek: Ηλίας
- Hebrew: אליהו
- Hindi: एलाइजा
- Hungarian: Illés, Éliás
- Italian: Elia
- Latin: Ēliās, Hēliās
- Norwegian: Elias
- Polish: Eliasz
- Portuguese: Elias
- Romanian: Ilie
- Russian: Илья́
- Spanish: Elías

## People named Elijah

- Elijah Wood, American actor (born 1981)
- Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (1897-1975)
- Elijah Winnington, Australian swimmer
- Elijah Cummings, American politician (1951-2019)
- Elijah Kelley, American actor and singer
- Elijah Burke, American professional wrestler
- Elijah Adebayo, English footballer (born 1933)
- Elijah Parish Lovejoy, American minister, journalist, and abolitionist (1802–1837)
- Elijah Millsap, American basketball player (born 1987)
- Elijah Bryant, American basketball player (born 1995)
- Elijah Coleman Bridgman, first American missionary to China (1801-1861)
- Elijah McCoy, American engineer (1844–1929)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.