Eligah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is my God".
Name Census estimates that about 632 living Americans carry the first name Eligah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eligah today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eligah births was 1918 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eligah. 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.
People living today
632
~ 1 in 542,333 Americans
Peak year
1918
52 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,015
Tracked since 1880
Census
Eligah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 631 people with the first name Eligah, which placed it at #17,471 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,471
National first-name rank
People counted
631
631 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eligah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eligah is Black at 50.9%. The next largest groups are White (23.6%) and Hispanic (15.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Eligah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Eligah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.9% · 321
- White23.6% · 149
- Hispanic or Latino15.5% · 98
- Two or more races7.4% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Eligah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eligah from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 330 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eligah 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 Eligah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eligahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Eligah, while North Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 41 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eligah
The given name Eligah is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the biblical name Elijah. The name Elijah itself is a combination of two Hebrew words, "El" meaning "God" and "Yah" being a shortened form of the sacred name "Yahweh" or "Jehovah." This linguistic connection suggests that the name Eligah carries a meaning akin to "God is my Lord" or "God is Yahweh."
Elijah was a prominent prophet in the Hebrew Bible, renowned for his unwavering faith and miraculous deeds. His story is recounted in the Books of Kings, where he is depicted as a courageous defender of the worship of the one true God against the pagan practices of his time. The name Eligah, being a variation of Elijah, likely emerged as a tribute to this revered biblical figure, reflecting a desire to honor his legacy and the values he embodied.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Eligah can be found in the writings of Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian from the first century AD. In his work, "Antiquities of the Jews," Josephus mentions an individual named Eligah who played a role in the turbulent events surrounding the Jewish revolt against Roman rule.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Eligah. One such example is Eligah Ash (1692-1753), an English Puritan minister and author who wrote extensively on theological matters. Another is Eligah Bates (1749-1841), an American Revolutionary War soldier and one of the last surviving veterans of the conflict.
In the realm of literature, Eligah Fenton (1683-1730) was an English poet and playwright who is best known for his translations of classical works, including Homer's Odyssey. Similarly, Eligah Hinsdale (1812-1900) was an American educator and author who contributed significantly to the field of education through his writings and teachings.
Finally, Eligah Lovejoy (1802-1837) was an American abolitionist and newspaper editor who was tragically killed for his vocal opposition to slavery. His martyrdom helped galvanize the anti-slavery movement and highlighted the intense tensions surrounding the issue in the years leading up to the American Civil War.
While these are just a few examples, the name Eligah has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, each contributing to their respective fields and leaving their mark on history.
People
Eligah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eligah 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
Eligah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eligah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 632 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eligah 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 542,333 US residents.
Is Eligah a common name?
We classify Eligah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,740 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eligah most popular?
The single biggest year for Eligah was 1918, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eligah is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eligah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 631 people with the name Eligah, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,471 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Eligah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Eligah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eligah appears almost entirely male. Of the 627 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Eligah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eligah is Black at 50.9%. The next largest groups are White (23.6%) and Hispanic (15.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Eligah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Eligah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.9% (321 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Eligah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eligah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eligah in the SSA data are male. 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 Eligah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eligah 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 Eligah 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.
How many people have Eligah as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.