Eliab
Masculine · “my God is father”
Eliab is 'my God is father' in Hebrew — and he is David's eldest brother, the one Samuel would have anointed if left to himself.
How old is the name Eliab?
Eliab first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Eliab is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Eliab are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eliab most popular?
Eliab peaked in 2022, reaching #1720 nationally. Today it ranks #2480, 760 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eli av to Eliab
The story of Eliab
Samuel sees Eliab and thinks the Lord's anointed stands before him, and is told that man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart — one of the best-known lines in Samuel, and Eliab is the reason it is said. David is chosen instead. The name appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
my God is father
From the Hebrew Eliav — Eli, 'my God', and av, 'father'. Hebrew builds many names on kinship terms applied to God. 1 Samuel 16 names Eliab as Jesse's eldest. The construction is transparent and the reading undisputed.
How the name formed
- Eli av
- Eliav
- Eliab
Related forms: אליאב · Eliav · Eliab
Pronouncing Eliab
ee-LY-ab
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Hebrew Eliav is el-ee-AHV.
Nicknames for Eliab
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
- 1989
- Most boys named
- 202298 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1720reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −3.6%54 in 2025, from 56
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.
Eliab in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- אליאב in Hebrew — transliteration
- Eliav in English — spelling variant
- Eliab in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Virginia.
Eliabs among us
people named Eliab are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 31,631 born in 2025 was named Eliab
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marshel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Eliab's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marshel climbed just as high around 1926, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marshel's path sketches the road Eliab is walking now.
Eliab 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 Eliab is headed
Eliab 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.
Eliab beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eliab in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That 'the Lord looks on the heart' is said about him is a first-rate anchor.
- The my-God-is-father meaning is transparent and warm.
- Eli is available as a short form with a large record.
- The biblical bearer is passed over for his younger brother.
- Eliav is the modern Hebrew spelling.
- It is genuinely rare and will be asked about.
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Eliab
Masculine · #2480 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Eliabs 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 Eliab are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eliab in 2025?
- Eliab ranks #2480 among US boy names in 2025, with 54 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eliab?
- About 1 in every 31,631 US boys born in 2025 was named Eliab — 54 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eliab with classmates?
- Eliab will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eliab
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Arya#2480 · Kaeson#2480 · Demian#2480 · Marion#2480 · Florian#2480 · Niles#2480 · Hardy#2480 · Caine#2480
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eliab? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eliab and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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