Elisha
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “God is salvation”
Elisha is given to both — 15,668 boys and 14,366 girls since 1880. See Elisha as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Elisha belongs to the Hebrew Bible — the prophet who took up Elijah's mantle in the Books of Kings — and it has been spoken in one form or another for close to three thousand years. English speakers picked it up in earnest after the Reformation, when Old Testament names traveled with Puritan families to New England, and it has never entirely left. Three syllables, a soft landing, and Eli waiting inside it.
How old is the name Elisha?
Elisha was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Elisha alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 12,500 people named Elisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elisha most popular?
Elisha peaked in 1883, reaching #253 nationally. Today it ranks #788, 535 places below that high. See the whole 1883 chart.
Where it comes from
From Elishaʿ (Hebrew) to Elisha
The story of Elisha
The name is Hebrew, and its earliest bearer in the record is the prophet Elisha of the Books of Kings, the disciple and successor of Elijah. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Elissaios, Latin made it Eliseus, and from Latin it spread across Catholic Europe as Eliseo, Eliseu and Élisée. English kept a form much closer to the Hebrew, largely because Protestant translators worked from Hebrew texts directly, and Elisha in this spelling became a working English given name in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In Islamic tradition the same prophet appears as al-Yasaʿ, named in the Quran among the righteous.
Meaning
God is salvation
From the Hebrew Elishaʿ, combining El, 'God', with a root meaning 'to save' or 'deliver' — usually rendered 'God is salvation' or 'my God is my salvation'.
How the name formed
- ElishaʿHebrew
- ElissaiosGreek
- EliseusLatin
- ElishaEnglish
Related forms: Eliseo · Eliseo · Élisée · Eliseu · Yelisey · Elishaʿ
Pronouncing Elisha
ee-LY-shuh
That is the traditional English reading, with the stress on the middle syllable. Some families use ih-LEE-shuh, and Hebrew speakers say eh-lee-SHAH. Worth deciding which you want, because both English versions are current and strangers will guess.
Nicknames for Elisha
High
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2007365 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #253reached in 1883
- Change vs 2022
- +6.6%322 in 2025, from 302
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.
Elisha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eliseo in Spanish — same name
- Eliseo in Italian — same name
- Élisée in French — same name
- Eliseu in Portuguese — same name
- Yelisey in Russian — same name
- Elishaʿ in Hebrew — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Elishas among us
people named Elisha are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 5,305 born in 2025 was named Elisha
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
Elisha 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 Elisha is headed
Elisha should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Elisha beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elisha in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Contains Eli, a short form that already stands alone as a name — so there is a ready everyday version without inventing one.
- A documented record stretching from the Hebrew Bible to the present, with no gap where the name fell out of use.
- Recognizable spelling: most people have read it before, even if they need a moment on the stress.
- Travels well — Eliseo, Eliseu, Élisée and Yelisey are the same name in Spanish, Portuguese, French and Russian.
- Two English pronunciations compete, ee-LY-shuh and ih-LEE-shuh, and you will be correcting people either way. Nothing serious, but it is a lifelong small tax.
- The same spelling is sometimes read as a girl's name, by association with Alisha and Alicia, which are a separate name entirely. Expect occasional forms to arrive addressed the other way.
- It is close enough to Elijah and Elias that people mishear one for another, especially over the phone.
- The biblical link is direct and unmistakable, which some families want and others would rather not foreground.
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What they receive
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Elisha
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #788 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elishas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,500 people named Elisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Elisha in 2025?
- Elisha ranks #788 among US boy names in 2025, with 322 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elisha?
- About 1 in every 5,305 US boys born in 2025 was named Elisha — 322 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elisha with classmates?
- Elisha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elisha
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Darius#788 · Remi#787 · Barron#790 · Alonso#785 · Fisher#791 · Jamison#785 · Ray#791 · Tony#783
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elisha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Elisha and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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