Eliyahu
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "my God is Yahweh".
Name Census estimates that about 3,439 living Americans carry the first name Eliyahu. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eliyahu today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eliyahu births was 2024 (156 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eliyahu. 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 Eliyahu with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 99,667 Americans
Peak year
2024
156 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,258
Tracked since 1956
Census
Eliyahu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,364 people with the first name Eliyahu, which placed it at #6,701 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
#6,701
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,364 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eliyahu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eliyahu is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.3%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Eliyahu 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 Eliyahu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.8% · 2,240
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 55
- Black or African American1.2% · 29
- Two or more races1.2% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 11
Popularity
Eliyahu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eliyahu from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,194 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Eliyahu remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eliyahu 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 Eliyahu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eliyahus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Florida recorded the most babies named Eliyahu, while Ohio, Illinois, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 388 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eliyahu
The name Eliyahu originates from the Hebrew language and has its roots in ancient Israelite culture, dating back to biblical times. The name is derived from the Hebrew words "El," meaning "God," and "Yahu," a shortened form of the divine name "Yahweh." The combination of these two elements gives Eliyahu the meaning "My God is Yahweh" or "The Lord is my God."
One of the most prominent historical references to the name Eliyahu is found in the Hebrew Bible, where it is associated with the prophet Elijah, a central figure in the prophetic tradition. Elijah is revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for his unwavering devotion to God and his role in confronting the worship of false idols during the reign of King Ahab in the 9th century BCE.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Eliyahu can be traced back to ancient Hebrew texts and inscriptions from the biblical period. Throughout history, the name has been borne by numerous individuals of significance, including:
1. Elijah (9th century BCE), the renowned prophet in the Hebrew Bible known for his miracles and confrontation with the prophets of Baal.
2. Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (1720-1797), a prominent Jewish scholar and mystic, also known as the Vilna Gaon or the Genius of Vilna.
3. Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975), an influential African-American religious leader and a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam movement.
4. Elijah Levitas (1469-1549), a renowned Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer who authored the influential work "Sefer HaBahur."
5. Elijah ben Judah of Paris (12th century), a French Jewish scholar and one of the earliest known poets to compose Hebrew poetry in Europe.
Throughout its long history, the name Eliyahu has been widely embraced and revered across various cultures and religious traditions, reflecting its deep spiritual and prophetic significance. Its enduring popularity is a testament to the profound impact of the biblical prophet Elijah and the lasting influence of the Hebrew language and Israelite culture on the naming traditions of diverse communities around the world.
People
Eliyahu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eliyahu 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
Eliyahu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eliyahu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,439 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eliyahu 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 99,667 US residents.
Is Eliyahu a common name?
We classify Eliyahu as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,496 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eliyahu most popular?
The single biggest year for Eliyahu was 2024, when 156 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eliyahu is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eliyahu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,364 people with the name Eliyahu, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,701 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 Eliyahu 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 Eliyahu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eliyahu appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,364 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Eliyahu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eliyahu is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.3%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Eliyahu most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eliyahu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (2,240 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 Eliyahu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eliyahu a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eliyahu 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 Eliyahu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eliyahu 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 Eliyahu 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 Americans are named Eliyahu?
Want to know how many people have the name Eliyahu? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.