Elayah
Of Arabic origin, meaning "ascending high" or "the most high".
Name Census estimates that about 372 living Americans carry the first name Elayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elayah today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elayah births was 2023 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elayah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Elayah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
372
~ 1 in 921,383 Americans
Peak year
2023
43 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,296
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Elayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elayah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 185 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elayah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Elayah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elayahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Elayah, while Michigan, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elayah
The name Elayah is of Hebrew origin, derived from the combination of the Hebrew words "El" meaning "God" and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the divine name Yahweh. It is believed to have originated in ancient Israel during the biblical era.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Elayah can be found in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the Book of Chronicles, where it refers to a Levite who was one of the gatekeepers of the Tabernacle during the reign of King David, around 1000 BCE. This suggests that the name was in use among the Israelites during this time period.
In the centuries that followed, the name Elayah continued to be used within Jewish communities, though it was not as common as some other Hebrew names. One notable figure in history who bore this name was Elayah ben Shammai, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 3rd century CE and was a disciple of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, the renowned redactor of the Mishnah.
During the Middle Ages, the name Elayah was occasionally found among Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East, though it remained relatively rare. One example is Elayah ben Solomon Ha-Bashyatsi, a 14th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar from Spain.
As time progressed, the name Elayah gained some popularity among certain Christian communities, particularly in parts of Europe and the Americas. In the 16th century, there was an Italian nobleman named Elayah de Pazzi, who lived from 1535 to 1617 and was known for his involvement in the Italian Wars.
More recently, in the 19th century, there was an American author and poet named Elayah Burritt, who was born in 1810 and published several works exploring themes of nature and spirituality.
Despite its ancient roots, the name Elayah has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, though it has been used sporadically across various cultures and time periods, often reflecting its Hebrew origins and connections to religious or spiritual themes.
People
Elayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elayah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Elayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 372 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elayah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 921,383 US residents.
Is Elayah a common name?
We classify Elayah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 375 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Elayah was 2023, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elayah is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Elayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elayah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Elayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elayah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Elayah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Elayah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.