Elizah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath".
Name Census estimates that about 1,163 living Americans carry the first name Elizah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Elizah today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elizah births was 2017 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elizah. 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 Elizah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Elizah started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Elizah sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 294,716 Americans
Peak year
2017
55 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,281
Tracked since 1899
Census
Elizah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 781 people with the first name Elizah, which placed it at #14,909 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
#14,909
National first-name rank
People counted
781
781 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
30.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elizah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elizah is Hispanic at 30.2%. The next largest groups are White (29.1%) and Black (26.2%). 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 Elizah 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 Elizah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino30.2% · 236
- White29.1% · 227
- Black or African American26.2% · 205
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 50
- Two or more races6.0% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Elizah
Elizah is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,344 total registrations, 570 (42.4%) were male and 774 (57.6%) were female.
Elizah as a male name
- Ranked #12,803 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (18 births)
Elizah as a female name
- Ranked #3,281 in 2024
- 48 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (48 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Elizah on both sides of the split. Of the 788 people counted with this name, 312 were male (39.6%) and 476 were female (60.4%).
Popularity
Elizah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elizah from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 381 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elizah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elizah 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 Elizah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elizahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Elizah, while Ohio, New York, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elizah
The name Elizah is a unique and intriguing blend of cultural influences, with its roots stretching back to ancient times. Its origins can be traced to the Hebrew language, where it is believed to be a variant of the biblical name Elijah, which means "my God is Yahweh."
In its earliest form, the name Elijah was popular among ancient Hebrew communities, particularly during the time of the Old Testament prophets. One of the most notable figures bearing this name was the prophet Elijah, a revered figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, who lived during the 9th century BCE.
As the name spread across different regions and cultures, it underwent various transformations and adaptations, giving rise to the variant form Elizah. This particular spelling is thought to have emerged during the Middle Ages, when it gained popularity among certain European communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elizah can be found in historical records from the 12th century, where it was mentioned in connection with a prominent family from the region now known as Germany. Throughout the following centuries, the name continued to be used, albeit with limited frequency.
Among the notable individuals who bore the name Elizah, one can mention Elizah Beckinsale, an English merchant and trader who lived in the 16th century (born around 1530, died in 1598). Another prominent figure was Elizah Winslow, a Puritan settler from England who was among the early colonists in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, in the early 17th century (born in 1595, died in 1655).
In the realm of literature, the name Elizah appeared in the works of the renowned English poet John Milton, who referenced a character bearing this name in his epic poem "Paradise Lost," published in 1667.
During the 18th century, Elizah Allport, a British philosopher and scholar (born in 1705, died in 1789), gained recognition for his contributions to the field of ethics and moral philosophy.
More recently, in the 19th century, Elizah Farnsworth, an American inventor and entrepreneur (born in 1815, died in 1892), was credited with developing several innovative agricultural tools and machinery, which played a significant role in the industrialization of farming practices.
While the name Elizah has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its unique blend of cultural influences and the stories of those who have borne it have contributed to its enduring charm and intrigue.
People
Elizah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elizah 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
Elizah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elizah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,163 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elizah 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 294,716 US residents.
Is Elizah a common name?
We classify Elizah as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,344 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elizah most popular?
The single biggest year for Elizah was 2017, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elizah is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elizah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 781 people with the name Elizah, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,909 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 Elizah 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 Elizah?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Elizah on both sides of the split. Of the 788 people counted with this name, 312 were male (39.6%) and 476 were female (60.4%). 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 Elizah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elizah is Hispanic at 30.2%. The next largest groups are White (29.1%) and Black (26.2%). 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 Elizah most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elizah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 30.2% (236 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 Elizah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elizah a female name?
Yes, 57.6% of people registered as Elizah 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 Elizah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elizah 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 Elizah 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 are called Elizah?
You can see how many Americans are named Elizah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.