Eliyahu
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “my God is Yahweh”
Eliyahu is the Hebrew name behind English Elijah — the form used in the Hebrew Bible for the prophet of the Book of Kings, and the form still sung in the Havdalah hymn "Eliyahu HaNavi" at the close of Shabbat. Said aloud it opens wide and lands on that long third syllable, el-ee-YAH-hoo. It is the older road to the very familiar short form Eli.
How old is the name Eliyahu?
Eliyahu first appears in US birth records in 1956 — 69 years ago. The typical Eliyahu alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 3,600 people named Eliyahu are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eliyahu most popular?
Eliyahu peaked in 2025, reaching #1235 nationally. Today it ranks #1235, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Eliyahu appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Eliyahu (Hebrew) to Eliyahu
The story of Eliyahu
Eliyahu is the biblical Hebrew name of the prophet whose story runs through the Books of Kings, set in the ninth century BCE. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, the name came out as Elias, and Latin passed that on to Europe, where it grew into Elijah, Élie, Elias and Arabic Ilyas. Meanwhile the original kept living in Hebrew itself — in prayer, in the Passover seder's cup of Elijah, in the Havdalah song at the end of Shabbat — and it is that unaltered Hebrew form, not its English descendant, that parents choose when they write Eliyahu. In American records it has been given quietly and consistently for generations, with its strongest presence in the New York and New Jersey area.
Meaning
my God is Yahweh
Built from the Hebrew elements El (God) and the divine name Yah/Yahweh — a small sentence rather than a single word, which is common in Hebrew names of this type.
How the name formed
- EliyahuHebrew
- EliasGreek
- HeliasLatin
- ElijahEnglish
Related forms: Elijah · Elias · Ilyas · Élie · Ilya · Elye
Pronouncing Eliyahu
el-ee-YAH-hoo
Four syllables with the stress on the third. In Hebrew the opening vowel is closer to "ay", and some Ashkenazi families say el-ee-YOH-hoo.
Nicknames for Eliyahu
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
- 1956
- Most boys named
- 2025162 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1235reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +2.5%162 in 2025, from 158
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.
Eliyahu in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elijah in English — same name
- Elias in Greek, German, Scandinavian — same name
- Ilyas in Arabic — same name
- Élie in French — same name
- Ilya in Russian — related form
- Elye in Yiddish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New Jersey, New York, Florida.
Eliyahus among us
people named Eliyahu are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 10,544 born in 2025 was named Eliyahu
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 Kollin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Eliyahu's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kollin climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kollin's path sketches the road Eliyahu is walking now.
Eliyahu 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 Eliyahu is headed
Eliyahu 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.
Eliyahu beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eliyahu in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Comes with Eli ready-made — a short form Americans already know how to spell, say and use on its own.
- Recognizable across languages through its relatives Elijah, Elias and Ilyas, so the name travels without explanation.
- A continuous written record going back to biblical Hebrew, and continuous liturgical use in Jewish practice ever since.
- Familiar in sound while remaining uncommon on paper: a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- Because Elijah is so well known in English, people will often hear or write that instead. Expect a lifetime of gentle corrections, especially over the phone.
- Transliteration from Hebrew is not standardized — Eliahu, Eliyohu and Elijahu all exist. Whichever you register becomes the spelling you defend on forms.
- Four syllables is a lot for a school register, and most people will reach for Eli anyway. Worth being comfortable with that, since it will probably be the everyday name.
- The name carries a clear Jewish and biblical association. For many families that is the whole point; it is simply worth knowing it is read that way immediately.
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What they receive
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Eliyahu
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #1235 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Eliyahus are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,600 people named Eliyahu are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eliyahu in 2025?
- Eliyahu ranks #1235 among US boy names in 2025, with 162 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eliyahu?
- About 1 in every 10,544 US boys born in 2025 was named Eliyahu — 162 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eliyahu with classmates?
- Eliyahu will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eliyahu
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Viktor#1235 · Crosby#1235 · Marc#1235 · Yasin#1235 · Westen#1235 · Mattias#1231 · Mike#1231 · Kendall#1231
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eliyahu? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eliyahu and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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