Eliu
Masculine · “Hebrew "He is my God”
Elihu walks into the book of Job from nowhere. He is not listed with Job's three friends at the start, nobody responds to his four chapters of speech, and God does not mention him at the end — which is why many scholars think his section was inserted later.
How old is the name Eliu?
Eliu first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Eliu alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 500 people named Eliu are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eliu most popular?
Eliu peaked in 1962, reaching #3305 nationally. Today it ranks #7679, 4,374 places below that high. See the whole 1962 chart.
Where it comes from
From Elihu to Eliu
The story of Eliu
The literary problem is well known. Job's three friends are introduced by name and homeland in chapter two and dismissed by God in chapter forty-two. Elihu appears only in chapters thirty-two to thirty-seven, arrives with a long self-justification for speaking, delivers a case that partly anticipates God's own answer, and is then ignored entirely — no reply from Job, no verdict from God. The vocabulary and style of his speeches also differ from the rest of the book. None of that settles the question, and defenders of the unity of Job argue the silence is deliberate. As a Spanish given name Eliu is ordinary, and the American figures peak in 1962 with Hispanic families.
Meaning
Hebrew "He is my God"
From Elihu: eli, my God, plus hu, he — a short creedal sentence, He is my God. Several men in the Hebrew Bible bear it, including Samuel's great-grandfather. Eliu is the Spanish and Portuguese spelling of the same name. It is unrelated to Elias or Elijah, which combine El with the divine name Yah.
How the name formed
- Elihu
- Eliu
Related forms: Eliú · Elihu · אליהוא
Pronouncing Eliu
eh-lee-OO
Three syllables, stress on the last in Spanish, which writes the accent as Eliú. The English Elihu is ih-LY-hyoo, stressed on the second syllable, and sounds quite different.
Nicknames for Eliu
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
- 1962
- Most boys named
- 200519 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3305reached in 1962
- Change vs 2024
- +11.1%10 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.
Eliu in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eliú in Spanish — same name
- Elihu in English — spelling variant
- אליהוא in Hebrew — transliteration
Elius among us
people named Eliu are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 170,808 born in 2025 was named Eliu
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 Gonsalo test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Eliu's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gonsalo climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gonsalo's path sketches the road Eliu is walking now.
Eliu 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
Eliu beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eliu in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and reads as a complete statement.
- Eli is an immediate short form and a settled name of its own.
- It is a genuine biblical name rather than a modern coinage.
- Elihu and Eliu are pronounced differently in English and Spanish.
- It is easily confused with Elias and Elijah.
- It is rare in America and will need spelling out.
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What they receive
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Eliu
Masculine · #7679 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elius are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Eliu are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eliu in 2025?
- Eliu ranks #7679 among US boy names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eliu?
- About 1 in every 170,808 US boys born in 2025 was named Eliu — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eliu with classmates?
- Eliu will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eliu
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Early#7679 · Obie#7679 · Huston#7679 · Knute#7679 · Rance#7679 · Blain#7679 · Doyle#7679 · Millard#7679
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eliu? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eliu and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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