Head to head · Boys' names
Elias vs Ethan
#13 vs #24 in 2025
Elias is a whisker ahead (#13 vs #24 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elias is climbing the charts fast, Ethan is stepping back from its peak.
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, Elias leads 4 measures of 6; Ethan 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: Elias #254, Ethan #741 — Elias higher
- 1890s: Elias #336, Ethan #802 — Elias higher
- 1900s: Elias #447, Ethan #1198 — Elias higher
- 1910s: Elias #451, Ethan #1375 — Elias higher
- 1920s: Elias #458, Ethan #1618 — Elias higher
- 1930s: Elias #497, Ethan #1470 — Elias higher
- 1940s: Elias #571, Ethan #1399 — Elias higher
- 1950s: Elias #589, Ethan #1041 — Elias higher
- 1960s: Elias #583, Ethan #622 — Elias higher
- 1970s: Elias #466, Ethan #343 — Ethan higher
- 1980s: Elias #404, Ethan #273 — Ethan higher
- 1990s: Elias #307, Ethan #64 — Ethan higher
- 2000s: Elias #197, Ethan #8 — Ethan higher
- 2010s: Elias #101, Ethan #8 — Ethan higher
- 2020s: Elias #37, Ethan #20 — Ethan higher
Elias stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Ethan has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elias | Ethan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #254 | #741 |
| 1890s | #336 | #802 |
| 1900s | #447 | #1198 |
| 1910s | #451 | #1375 |
| 1920s | #458 | #1618 |
| 1930s | #497 | #1470 |
| 1940s | #571 | #1399 |
| 1950s | #589 | #1041 |
| 1960s | #583 | #622 |
| 1970s | #466 | #343 |
| 1980s | #404 | #273 |
| 1990s | #307 | #64 |
| 2000s | #197 | #8 |
| 2010s | #101 | #8 |
| 2020s | #37 | #20 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elias
- Canada#57
- England & Wales#79
Ethan
- Canada#15
- France#30
- England & Wales#48
- Scotland#55
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Elias
my God is Yahweh
From the Hebrew name Eliyahu, built from El (God) and the divine name Yahweh.
Eliyahu → Ēlias → Elias → Elijah
How it traveled
The name begins as Hebrew Eliyahu, borne by the prophet of the Book of Kings. When Jewish translators in Alexandria rendered the scriptures into Greek, Eliyahu became Ēlias, and Latin took it from there as Elias — which is why medieval Europe knew the prophet by that spelling rather than Elijah.
Ethan
firm, enduring
Hebrew eitan, firm, permanent, enduring. It is still an ordinary Hebrew adjective: a nachal eitan is a stream that runs all year rather than drying up in summer, and that image — water that does not fail — is the concrete sense behind the name.
eitan → Ethan
How it traveled
Ethan appears rarely and always with weight. The verse in Kings uses him as a measure of wisdom; Psalm 89 is headed as his; and a musician of the name is listed among those David appointed.
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
Elias
ee-LY-us
Most common in American English, though ih-LY-us is heard just as often. German and Scandinavian speakers say EH-lee-as, and Spanish speakers eh-LEE-as, with the stress on the second syllable and the accent written in: Elías.
- Eli — The usual short form in American English, and a well-established given name in its own right.
- Lias — Informal short form heard in German- and Scandinavian-speaking families.
- El — Casual, family-level shortening rather than a name used on paper.
Ethan
EE-thun
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the th of think. Hebrew Eitan puts the weight at the end, ay-TAHN, and has no th at all — the Hebrew letter is a plain t.
- E — The initial said aloud; used for either child.
- Eth — The first syllable, used within families.
- Eitan — The Hebrew form, used in Jewish families as the formal version.
Who has carried each name
Elias
Elias Howe (b. 1819) — Invented the sewing machine
Elias Canetti (b. 1905) — Nobel Prize-winning writer
Ethan
Ethan Hawke (b. 1970) — Four-time Oscar nominee (Boyhood, Training Day)
Ethan Allen (b. 1738) — Revolutionary War hero of the Green Mountain Boys
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elias if you want…
- a name most people already know#13 in 2025, 8,837 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 41 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itElias runs 3 syllables, Ethan 2
- a long American recordElias was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Ethan if you want…
- a name fewer children share#24 in 2025 — roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Ethan
- a name past its most crowded yearsEthan is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesEthan is 2 syllables to Elias's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooEthan is on the national lists of Canada, France, England & Wales and Scotland
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
Elias
Strengths
- Comes with Eli already attached — a short form that needs no explaining and works from preschool to a professional signature.
- Works in German, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese with little or no change, which matters in a multilingual family.
- A documented record stretching from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible through medieval Latin Europe to the present.
To consider
- Elias, Elijah and Eli are close cousins in sound and constantly mistaken for one another; expect to correct which one it is fairly often.
- The two pronunciations — ee-LY-us and eh-LEE-as — both have a genuine claim, so you will be choosing one and repeating it.
- This one is climbing steadily, and it shares a sound world with several other names much in the air, so a classroom may hold something similar even if it holds no other Elias.
Ethan
Strengths
- A settled Hebrew meaning that is still an everyday adjective in the language.
- Two syllables and a spelling nobody has to be told.
- It works unchanged in English, French, Spanish and Hebrew.
To consider
- It has been among the most given names in the country for two decades, so it carries no signal.
- It resists shortening, which suits some families and frustrates others.
- The very few girls given this spelling will be read as boys on every form.
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 Elias and Ethan 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 Elias and Ethan?
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 Elias and Ethan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elias or Ethan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elias or Ethan?
- Elias, in 2025: Elias ranked #13 with 8,837 babies; Ethan ranked #24 with 7,852 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elias or Ethan?
- Elias. Over the last five years Elias moved up 41 places; Ethan moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Elias or Ethan?
- Elias was already in use when US records began in 1880; Ethan entered the US charts in 1882. On the American record, Elias is the older name.
- How many people are named Elias and Ethan?
- About 121,000 people named Elias are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 479,000 people named Ethan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Eliass or Ethans in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Elias. Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Ethan.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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