Head to head · Boys' names
Elijah vs William
#7 vs #9 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Elijah is a whisker ahead (#7 vs #9 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote1 vote
Which one would you pick?
1 parent has voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Elijah and William each lead 2 measures of 6.
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: Elijah #159, William #2 — William higher
- 1890s: Elijah #201, William #2 — William higher
- 1900s: Elijah #228, William #2 — William higher
- 1910s: Elijah #320, William #2 — William higher
- 1920s: Elijah #353, William #3 — William higher
- 1930s: Elijah #381, William #4 — William higher
- 1940s: Elijah #403, William #4 — William higher
- 1950s: Elijah #483, William #6 — William higher
- 1960s: Elijah #626, William #7 — William higher
- 1970s: Elijah #464, William #10 — William higher
- 1980s: Elijah #284, William #15 — William higher
- 1990s: Elijah #135, William #18 — William higher
- 2000s: Elijah #34, William #9 — William higher
- 2010s: Elijah #11, William #4 — William higher
- 2020s: Elijah #6, William #8 — Elijah higher
William stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Elijah took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elijah | William |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #159 | #2 |
| 1890s | #201 | #2 |
| 1900s | #228 | #2 |
| 1910s | #320 | #2 |
| 1920s | #353 | #3 |
| 1930s | #381 | #4 |
| 1940s | #403 | #4 |
| 1950s | #483 | #6 |
| 1960s | #626 | #7 |
| 1970s | #464 | #10 |
| 1980s | #284 | #15 |
| 1990s | #135 | #18 |
| 2000s | #34 | #9 |
| 2010s | #11 | #4 |
| 2020s | #6 | #8 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elijah
- England & Wales#23
- Canada#33
- Scotland#59
William
- Canada#5
- England & Wales#27
- Scotland#52
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Elijah
"My God is Yahweh" — Hebrew Eliyahu
Built from El, "God", and the divine name Yahweh; the sense is a declaration of allegiance rather than a description.
Eliyahu → Elias → Elijah
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew, Eliyahu, and belongs to the prophet whose deeds fill several chapters of the Books of Kings, set in the northern kingdom of Israel in the ninth century BC. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, and later into Latin, the name came through as Elias — the form that reached most of Europe and still stands in Spanish, German, Greek and Portuguese.
William
will, desire + helmet, protection
From the Germanic elements wil (will, resolve) and helm (helmet, protection) — often glossed together as "resolute protector".
Willahelm → Wilhelm → Willelm → William
How it traveled
The name begins in continental Germanic as Willahelm and spread widely in Frankish and Old High German territory as Wilhelm. The Normans carried their own form of it into England in the eleventh century, where William the Conqueror's victory in 1066 made it instantly fashionable among the Anglo-Norman ruling class; within a few generations it was among the commonest men's names in England.
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
Elijah
ih-LY-juh
Stress on the second syllable. The j is an English j sound; the European cousin Elias is said EE-lee-ahs or eh-LEE-as instead, so Spanish- and German-speaking relatives may reach for that shape first.
- Eli — By far the most used short form, and a long-established given name in its own right — many Elis were never Elijahs.
- Lijah — Informal and family-level, clipped from the back half of the name.
- Lige — An older American short form, common in nineteenth-century records and rarely heard in new use.
- E — Initial-only, the kind of thing that turns up among friends and teammates rather than on paperwork.
William
WIL-yum
Stress on the first syllable. Two syllables in ordinary speech, sometimes drawn out to three (WIL-ee-um) in careful or formal delivery.
- Will — The most current short form, used informally and increasingly registered on its own.
- Liam — Originally the Irish short form of Uilliam; now overwhelmingly given as a full name in its own right rather than as a nickname for William.
- Bill — A long-standing informal form; strongly represented among older generations of Williams.
- Billy — Informal and affectionate, used for boys and men alike, and also given as a standalone name.
- Also Willie, Wills.
Who has carried each name
Elijah
Elijah Wood (b. 1981) — The Lord of the Rings' Frodo
Elijah Cummings (b. 1951) — Longtime congressman and civil rights champion
William
William Shakespeare (b. 1564) — The most famous writer who ever lived
William Blake (b. 1757) — Visionary poet and artist
William Butler Yeats (b. 1865) — Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet
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 Elijah if you want…
- a name with more sound in itElijah runs 3 syllables, William 2
- a name that feels very nowElijah is stepping back from its peak
Choose William if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesWilliam is 2 syllables to Elijah's 3
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Will, Liam and Bill
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 84% for Elijah
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
Elijah
Strengths
- Eli is a ready-made short form with centuries behind it, and it stands alone as a full given name if he prefers it.
- One dominant spelling in English, widely recognized on sight, with no competing variant fighting it.
- Documented without a break for roughly three thousand years, from the Books of Kings to this year's classrooms.
To consider
- This is a name he will share. In a school of any size there will likely be another Elijah, and more than one Eli, since Eli arrives from other names too.
- Elisha, Elias and Elijah are three different names that sound close and get swapped in speech and on forms. Expect occasional correcting.
- The biblical tie is strong and unmistakable — a pleasure for some families, more weight than others want on a name.
William
Strengths
- Spelled and pronounced correctly on first hearing by virtually every English speaker, with no competing variant spellings to explain.
- An unbroken record in English since the eleventh century, and still given to babies now — long past the point where a name can date a person.
- Unusually rich in short forms: Will, Bill, Billy, Willie, Wills, each with real historical use, so the bearer has room to choose.
To consider
- It is genuinely common and always has been. Expect other Williams in the classroom, the workplace and quite possibly the extended family.
- You cannot fully control which short form sticks. Coaches, cousins and classmates may land on Bill, Billy or Willie regardless of what you use at home.
- Because it is so well established among older generations, many Williams alive today are grandfathers and great-grandfathers — lovely if you want that continuity, worth knowing if you don't.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Elijah
84%chance Elijah feels dated by 2040
Elijah is coming down from a big peak (#4 in 2020). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
William
12%chance William feels dated by 2040
William has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Elijah and William 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 Elijah and William?
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- all guides
Every list here names both Elijah and William — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elijah or William — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elijah or William?
- Elijah, in 2025: Elijah ranked #7 with 11,111 babies; William ranked #9 with 10,545 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elijah or William?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Elijah moved down 3 places; William moved down 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Elijah or William?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Elijah and William?
- About 365,000 people named Elijah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 2,248,000 people named William are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elijahs or Williams in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 6 classrooms will have a child named Elijah. Roughly 1 in 6 classrooms will have a child named William.
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
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