Elia
Masculine · “my God is the Lord”
Elia is given to both — 1,075 boys and 9,084 girls since 1880. See Elia as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Elia is the Italian Elijah, and it comes through Latin rather than directly from Hebrew — which is why it lost the j sound entirely and ends in a vowel. In Italy it is a man's name; in several other countries the same spelling belongs to women.
How old is the name Elia?
Elia first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Elia alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 900 people named Elia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elia most popular?
Elia peaked in 1982, reaching #2269 nationally. Today it ranks #2991, 722 places below that high. See the whole 1982 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eliyahu to Elia
The story of Elia
Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, is fed by ravens, hears God in a small still voice rather than in wind or fire, and departs in a chariot without dying. The Greek Elias carried the name into every Christian language, and Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all produced forms without the English j. Elia is the standard Italian one and has been in ordinary use for centuries. It reaches United States records with Italian families and, separately, from Albanian and Balkan ones.
Meaning
my God is the Lord
Hebrew Eliyahu joins Eli, 'my God', to Yahu, the divine name, and the reading is documented and undisputed. Greek rendered it Elias and Latin took that; Italian dropped the final s to give Elia. The name asserts an allegiance, which is exactly what the prophet who carried it spent his career doing.
How the name formed
- Eliyahu
- Elias
- Elia
Related forms: Elijah · Elias · Elías · Eliyahu · Ilyas
Pronouncing Elia
eh-LEE-ah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle in Italian. English speakers often say ee-LY-uh, giving the middle vowel an English long i, which is the Elijah pattern rather than the Italian one.
Nicknames for Elia
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 202541 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2269reached in 1982
- Change vs 2023
- +28.1%41 in 2025, from 32
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Elia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elijah in English — same name
- Elias in Greek — related form
- Elías in Spanish — same name
- Eliyahu in Hebrew — related form
- Ilyas in Arabic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Elias among us
people named Elia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 41,660 born in 2025 was named Elia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Elia
- #2991
- Elia on the 2025 chart
- #773
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Elia went to 41 boys in 2025, but Eliah, Eliyah and Elya and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 155, which makes it the 773rd most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,218 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 11,020 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 41,660 for Elia itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Pearce test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Elia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Pearce climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Pearce's path sketches the road Elia is walking now.
Elia sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Elia is headed
Elia should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Elia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented biblical name with a very long and continuous record in Italian.
- Eli is a ready short form with a strong independent American presence.
- Four letters, entirely phonetic, and easy for English speakers once heard.
- In several countries the same spelling is a woman's name, which comes up abroad.
- English speakers reach for the Elijah vowel until corrected.
- Elia, Elias, Eliyahu and Elijah are one name with four quite different-looking spellings.
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What they receive
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Elia
Masculine · #2991 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Elia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Elia?
- Elia is the most-used spelling in US records — 41 of the 155 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Eliah, Eliyah, Elya and Eliya.
- How popular is the name Elia in 2025?
- Elia ranks #2991 among US boy names in 2025, with 41 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elia?
- About 1 in every 41,660 US boys born in 2025 was named Elia — 41 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elia with classmates?
- Elia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roran#2991 · Izaak#2991 · Nyle#2991 · Levin#2991 · Tilden#2991 · Hanson#2991 · Breck#2991 · Oswaldo#2991
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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