Eligh
Masculine · “Hebrew Eli”
The gh in English was a real sound until about 1500, the one still heard in Scottish loch. When it went silent the spelling stayed, and English was left with the ough family, seven pronunciations and no rule at all.
How old is the name Eligh?
Eligh first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Eligh alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 800 people named Eligh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eligh most popular?
Eligh peaked in 1906, reaching #1111 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 9,584 places below that high. See the whole 1906 chart.
Where it comes from
From Eli to Eligh
The story of Eligh
Middle English pronounced the gh in night, light, thought, daughter and enough as a sound made at the back of the mouth, and the letters recorded it accurately. Between about 1400 and 1600 the sound was lost in most positions and turned into an f in others, and the spelling did not move, which is how English acquired its most notorious set: through, though, thought, tough, cough, plow and thorough, seven words ending in ough with seven different pronunciations. The gh is now purely visual, and modern American naming has taken it up as decoration, adding it where no sound ever was: Eligh, Kayleigh, Ryleigh. A silent letter that used to mean something has become a letter that means nothing except style.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew Eli, ascent or my God
Eligh is a respelling of Eli, the priest at Shiloh who raised the prophet Samuel. The Hebrew name is variously read as ascent, elevation, or as a short form of a name containing El, God. The decorative gh has no phonetic content; the peak is 1906.
How the name formed
- Eli
- Eligh
Related forms: Eli · Eli
Pronouncing Eligh
EE-lye
Two syllables, stress on the first. The gh is silent; Eli and Eligh are homophones.
Nicknames for Eligh
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
- 1906
- Most boys named
- 201257 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1111reached in 1906
- Change vs 2024
- −33.3%6 in 2025, from 9
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.
Eligh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eli in English — spelling variant
- Eli in Hebrew — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Elighs among us
people named Eligh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Eligh
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Eligh 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
Eligh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eligh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Eli is available as the standard spelling of the same name.
- Two syllables with a clear opening stress.
- The Hebrew figure behind it is documented.
- The gh will be queried every time the name is written.
- Eli is the standard spelling by an enormous margin.
- Its 1906 peak dates this variant.
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Eligh
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elighs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Eligh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eligh in 2025?
- Eligh ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eligh?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Eligh — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eligh with classmates?
- Eligh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eligh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eligh? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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