Head to head · Boys' names
Elias vs Levi
#13 vs #12 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Levi is a whisker ahead (#12 vs #13 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, Levi leads 4 measures of 6; Elias leads 1.
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, Levi #146 — Levi higher
- 1890s: Elias #336, Levi #203 — Levi higher
- 1900s: Elias #447, Levi #243 — Levi higher
- 1910s: Elias #451, Levi #346 — Levi higher
- 1920s: Elias #458, Levi #386 — Levi higher
- 1930s: Elias #497, Levi #415 — Levi higher
- 1940s: Elias #571, Levi #469 — Levi higher
- 1950s: Elias #589, Levi #517 — Levi higher
- 1960s: Elias #583, Levi #632 — Elias higher
- 1970s: Elias #466, Levi #452 — Levi higher
- 1980s: Elias #404, Levi #203 — Levi higher
- 1990s: Elias #307, Levi #165 — Levi higher
- 2000s: Elias #197, Levi #143 — Levi higher
- 2010s: Elias #101, Levi #46 — Levi higher
- 2020s: Elias #37, Levi #13 — Levi higher
Levi stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Levi has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elias | Levi |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #254 | #146 |
| 1890s | #336 | #203 |
| 1900s | #447 | #243 |
| 1910s | #451 | #346 |
| 1920s | #458 | #386 |
| 1930s | #497 | #415 |
| 1940s | #571 | #469 |
| 1950s | #589 | #517 |
| 1960s | #583 | #632 |
| 1970s | #466 | #452 |
| 1980s | #404 | #203 |
| 1990s | #307 | #165 |
| 2000s | #197 | #143 |
| 2010s | #101 | #46 |
| 2020s | #37 | #13 |
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
Levi
- Canada#16
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.
Levi
Joined, attached
Genesis 29 gives the explanation as Leah's words at his birth — that now her husband would be joined to her — from the Hebrew root lavah, to join or attach. Some scholars have proposed older Semitic roots tied to priesthood, but the 'joined' reading is the accepted one.
לֵוִי (Levi) → Leui (Greek) → Levi (Latin) → Levi (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew and biblical, belonging to the third son of Jacob and Leah and to the tribe of Levi, whose descendants served in the Temple; the word Levite comes straight from it. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Leui, and Latin kept it as Levi, which is why the spelling survived unchanged into English.
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.
Levi
LEE-vye
That is the usual English pronunciation. In Hebrew and in many Jewish families it is LEH-vee, and Dutch and German speakers say something close to that too. Both are correct; it helps to decide which one you mean before the birth announcement.
- Lev — The most common clipping in English, and a full given name in its own right in Russian and Hebrew usage.
- Lee — Informal, drawn from the first syllable in the English pronunciation; also long established as a standalone name.
Who has carried each name
Elias
Elias Howe (b. 1819) — Invented the sewing machine
Elias Canetti (b. 1905) — Nobel Prize-winning writer
Levi
Levi Strauss (b. 1829) — Invented blue jeans
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 on the way upup 41 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itElias runs 3 syllables, Levi 2
- a name that charts abroad tooElias is on the national lists of Canada and England & Wales
Choose Levi if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesLevi is 2 syllables to Elias's 3
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.
Levi
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in English, Dutch, German and Hebrew transliteration — no adjustment needed as it travels.
- Four letters, two syllables, and no silent letters or doubled consonants to explain.
- A documented record stretching back to the Hebrew Bible, with continuous use in Jewish families ever since.
To consider
- The English pronunciation split, LEE-vye against LEH-vee, is genuine, and your child will spend some time correcting people who guess the other one.
- Levi Strauss put the name on the back pocket of a great many jeans, and the denim association is the first thing some people will think of.
- Its wave is very recent, so it reads clearly as a name of the current generation of children rather than a neutral classic.
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 Levi 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 Levi?
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
- America's top 100 names right now
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- all guides
Every list here names both Elias and Levi — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elias or Levi — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elias or Levi?
- Levi, in 2025: Levi ranked #12 with 9,642 babies; Elias ranked #13 with 8,837 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elias or Levi?
- Elias. Over the last five years Elias moved up 41 places; Levi moved up 6 places.
- Which is the older name, Elias or Levi?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Elias and Levi?
- About 121,000 people named Elias are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 202,000 people named Levi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Eliass or Levis in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Elias. Roughly 1 in 7 classrooms will have a child named Levi.
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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Elias, Levi and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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