Head to head · Boys' names
Eliam vs Sullivan
#313 vs #314 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Eliam is a whisker ahead (#313 vs #314 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Eliam leads 4 measures of 6; Sullivan leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Eliam —, Sullivan #777 — Sullivan higher
- 1890s: Eliam —, Sullivan #805 — Sullivan higher
- 1900s: Eliam —, Sullivan #836 — Sullivan higher
- 1910s: Eliam —, Sullivan #1812 — Sullivan higher
- 1920s: Eliam —, Sullivan #2275 — Sullivan higher
- 1930s: Eliam —, Sullivan #2334 — Sullivan higher
- 1940s: Eliam —, Sullivan #2173 — Sullivan higher
- 1950s: Eliam —, Sullivan #2295 — Sullivan higher
- 1960s: Eliam —, Sullivan #3067 — Sullivan higher
- 1970s: Eliam —, Sullivan #3831 — Sullivan higher
- 1980s: Eliam —, Sullivan #4492 — Sullivan higher
- 1990s: Eliam —, Sullivan #1858 — Sullivan higher
- 2000s: Eliam #6938, Sullivan #941 — Sullivan higher
- 2010s: Eliam #1768, Sullivan #468 — Sullivan higher
- 2020s: Eliam #653, Sullivan #358 — Sullivan higher
Sullivan stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Eliam | Sullivan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #777 |
| 1890s | — | #805 |
| 1900s | — | #836 |
| 1910s | — | #1812 |
| 1920s | — | #2275 |
| 1930s | — | #2334 |
| 1940s | — | #2173 |
| 1950s | — | #2295 |
| 1960s | — | #3067 |
| 1970s | — | #3831 |
| 1980s | — | #4492 |
| 1990s | — | #1858 |
| 2000s | #6938 | #941 |
| 2010s | #1768 | #468 |
| 2020s | #653 | #358 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Eliam
God of the people, or my God is kinsman
Both halves are agreed: El, God, and am. The argument is over am. Read as "people", the name means "God of the people"; read in the older sense of "paternal kin, clan", it means something closer to "my God is kinsman". Both readings are standard in Hebrew scholarship, and neither has pushed the other out.
אֱלִיעָם (Elīʿam), Hebrew → Eliam, Greek and Latin Bibles → Eliam, English Bible and modern given name
How it traveled
Eliam is a biblical Hebrew name, אֱלִיעָם, and it appears twice in the second book of Samuel: once as Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, listed among David's thirty warriors, and once as the father of Bathsheba. Jewish tradition reads those as one man, which would make Ahithophel Bathsheba's grandfather.
Sullivan
From Irish Ó Súilleabháin, 'descendant of Súilleabhán' — a name built on súil, 'eye'
Everyone agrees on the first element: súil, the Irish word for eye. The second is where scholars part ways. The common reading takes it as dubh, 'black' or 'dark', giving 'dark-eyed one'. Others have read the name as 'one-eyed' or 'hawk-eyed'. The eye is certain; what is being said about it is not.
Súilleabhán → Ó Súilleabháin → O'Sullivan → Sullivan
How it traveled
Sullivan is the anglicized form of Ó Súilleabháin, the surname of a sept that held land in Tipperary before the Norman arrival in the twelfth century and afterwards pushed south-west into Cork and Kerry, where the O'Sullivan Beare branch ruled the Beara peninsula. It became one of the most numerous surnames in Ireland, and Irish emigration carried it in quantity to the United States, where the O' was widely dropped.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Eliam
ee-LEE-am
Three syllables in English, with the stress in the middle; EL-ee-am is also heard. The Hebrew original stresses the last syllable, eh-lee-AHM, and Spanish speakers tend toward eh-LYAHM. All are in real use, so it is worth deciding which one your family will say.
- Eli — The default short form in English, and a long-established given name in its own right — shared with Elijah, Elias and Elisha.
- Elí — The Spanish-language short form, stressed on the second syllable; common in the same families where Eliam is used.
- Lee — An informal clip from the middle of the name, and a standalone given name and surname in English.
Sullivan
SUL-uh-vun
Three syllables, stress on the first. The middle vowel is a light one and often disappears in fast speech, leaving something close to SUL-vun. Double L in the spelling, single V.
- Sully — The default short form, used from the playground upward; also stands on its own as a surname and occasionally as a given name.
- Sull — A clipped, informal version, mostly heard among friends and teammates rather than family.
- Van — Taken from the end of the name rather than the start; less common, and doubles as an independent given name.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Eliam if you want…
- a name on the way upup 864 places on the charts in five years
Choose Sullivan if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Sullivan from Eliam.
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Eliam
Strengths
- Comes with Eli already attached — a short form people know how to spell and say without being told.
- A documented biblical name, so it has a fixed spelling and a traceable record going back to the Hebrew scriptures.
- Works in English and Spanish alike without changing spelling, which matters in the states where it is used most.
To consider
- The stress genuinely varies — ee-LEE-am, EL-ee-am, eh-lee-AHM — and you will be correcting people fairly often, or letting all three coexist.
- It is close enough to Elias, Elian and Eliab that mishearings and misspellings are likely, especially over the phone.
- Eli is the short form, and Eli is shared with a great many Elijahs and Eliases; the nickname will be common even where the full name is not.
Sullivan
Strengths
- The spelling is already familiar to almost everyone as a surname, so it is read correctly on sight and rarely needs to be spelled out.
- Sully is a ready-made short form with a long history behind it, so the name works at full length and at speed.
- Documented in American records since the nineteenth century — long enough to have a track record, without ever having been a crowd.
To consider
- It reads as a surname first. Expect forms, rosters and teachers to occasionally flip it into the last-name field, and expect the odd 'and your first name?' in reply.
- The Irish-family association is strong and specific. Some families love that; others may find it makes a claim about ancestry they had not meant to make.
- It is currently rising rather than settled, which means a child named Sullivan today will likely be the only one in the class but may not be the only one in the generation.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Eliam and Sullivan in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Eliam and Sullivan?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Eliam and Sullivan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Eliam or Sullivan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Eliam or Sullivan?
- Eliam, in 2025: Eliam ranked #313 with 1,085 babies; Sullivan ranked #314 with 1,083 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Eliam or Sullivan?
- Eliam. Over the last five years Eliam moved up 864 places; Sullivan moved up 84 places.
- Which is the older name, Eliam or Sullivan?
- Eliam entered the US charts in 2000; Sullivan entered the US charts in 1884. On the American record, Sullivan is the older name.
- How many people are named Eliam and Sullivan?
- About 4,400 people named Eliam are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 15,000 people named Sullivan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Eliams or Sullivans in the classroom?
- Eliam will almost certainly be the only one in school. Sullivan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Eliam, Sullivan and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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