Every Boy Name

Boy's name

Elijah

Say it ih-LY-juh 3 syllables

Hebrew · “Yahweh is my god”

Loved across three Australian states and New Zealand. Common across the UK, Ontario, Ireland, and 2 more places. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 15 more places.

1 in 164 boys born in England and Wales in 2025. Number 23 there.

Elijah in every place

Rank, count and share in all 40 places: loved in 4, common in 7, rare in 18.
Elijah in every place we hold figures for
Place Rankyear Boysshare 5 years earlier
British Isles
England and Wales23 (up)20251,6591 in 164302020
Scotland59 (up)2025761 in 2581002020
Northern Ireland59 (up)2025381 in 218712020
Ireland97 (up)2025591 in 4021112020
North America
Ontario (province)26 (up)2024276about 1 in 217292019
Quebec (province)175 (down)202532about 1 in 9081462020
British Columbia (province)43 (down)202356about 1 in 232282018
Nova Scotia (province)Not in the published top 212025Not listed2020
Oceania
New South Wales (state)7 (up)202534992020
Victoria (state)13 (up)2025269192020
Queensland (state)10 (down)202523272020
South Australia (state)9 (up)202576102020
New Zealand9 (up)2025151112020
Western Europe
France195 (up)20252901 in 1,0442822020
Netherlands127 (down)2025131about 1 in 5081132020
Central Europe
Austria250 (up)2025231 in 1,6553812020
Switzerland223 (down)2025371 in 9732202020
Berlin (city)227 (up)202315about 1 in 1,0343852018
Munich (city)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Cologne (city)270 (down)20234about 1 in 1,5942232018
Bonn (city)118 (up)20255about 1 in 6342422020
Leipzig (city)Rare: below the complete list20252832020
Rostock (city)172 (new in the list)20251about 1 in 1,047Not listed2020
Nordic countries
NorwayRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Sweden280 (down)202529about 1 in 1,4872702020
DenmarkNot in the published top 502025Not listed2020
FinlandNot in the published top 502025No list2020
IcelandNot in the published top 102025No list2020
Southern Europe
SpainNot in the published top 1002024Not listed2019
Catalonia (region)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Italy684 (new in the list)2024131 in 14,566Not listed2019
Central and Eastern Europe
Poland490 (up)202541 in 31,6014922020
HungaryNot in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
SloveniaRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
EstoniaNot in the published top 272025Not listed2020
Moscow (city)Not in the published top 612025Not listed2020
CroatiaNot in the published top 502025No list2020
Middle East
TurkeyNot in the published top 302025Not listed2020
IsraelRare: below the complete list2024Not listed2019
Latin America
ArgentinaNot in the published top 202024Not listed2019

Germany publishes no national list; the German rows are city registers. About: the publisher leaves out its smallest names, so the share is approximate. ▲ and ▼ compare the rank with five years earlier. Not listed five years earlier: not in that year’s list. No list: the place published no list that year. How these figures are computed.

About the name

Eliyahu, 'Yahweh is my god', is the Hebrew source of Elijah, the name of the Hebrew prophet. Ilya and Iliya are doubles of it, and Elias is its New Testament form.

2 more paragraphs

Said ih-LY-juh, it has a soft, flowing rhythm with the stress in the middle. Related names include Elias, Elia, Elie, Eliahu, Ilya and Ellis.

Elijah is a favourite in Australia and New Zealand, placing high in New South Wales and South Australia. On the Continent it is much rarer, appearing well down the lists in the Netherlands, France and Switzerland. Canadian records show it arriving in the 1970s and peaking only recently, and it is rising in more places than it is falling.

Meaning, origin and how to say it

Say it
ih-LY-juh · 3 syllables · Stress on beat 2 of 3.
Meaning
“Yahweh is my god”
Origin
Hebrew
Related names
Ilya, Elias, Eliot, Elliot, Elliott, Ellis, Elie, Elia, Iliya, Elisjsha, Elija, Eliahu, Ilina, Elies, Illés, Hēliās, Eliasz, Ilie, Ilìa
Where Elijah comes from (Wiktionary)

From Hebrew אליהו (Eliyahu, literally “Yahweh is my god”). Doublet of Ilya and Iliya. Compare Joel. See also Arabic إلياس.

Shortened from the Wiktionary entry for Elijah. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Elijah over time

Rising in 6 of the 20 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 2. Peak in Ontario and British Columbia: 2019.

Rank in England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

Elijah in England and Wales: #312 in 1996, a peak of #23 in 2024, and #23 in 2025.

#1#10#50#100#300#1,000200020052010201520202025Top 101996: #312, 78 boys1997: #291, 91 boys1998: #361, 65 boys1999: #318, 83 boys2000: #273, 99 boys2001: #279, 98 boys2002: #210, 160 boys2003: #179, 216 boys2004: #168, 249 boys2005: #155, 300 boys2006: #165, 293 boys2007: #143, 374 boys2008: #136, 421 boys2009: #140, 419 boys2010: #120, 523 boys2011: #91, 701 boys2012: #82, 792 boys2013: #69, 908 boys2014: #53, 1,125 boys2015: #46, 1,294 boys2016: #44, 1,412 boys2017: #41, 1,511 boys2018: #41, 1,519 boys2019: #38, 1,621 boys2020: #30, 1,668 boys2021: #33, 1,657 boys2022: #33, 1,549 boys2023: #31, 1,482 boys2024: #23, 1,661 boys2025: #23, 1,659 boys#312 in 1996peak #23, 2024#23in 2025
Show the numbers
YearRankBoys
199631278
199729191
199836165
199931883
200027399
200127998
2002210160
2003179216
2004168249
2005155300
2006165293
2007143374
2008136421
2009140419
2010120523
201191701
201282792
201369908
2014531,125
2015461,294
2016441,412
2017411,511
2018411,519
2019381,621
2020301,668
2021331,657
2022331,549
2023311,482
2024231,661
2025231,659

Source: Office for National Statistics (OGL v3)

The long view: in Ontario and British Columbia

Half of the boys named Elijah in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 2013. Peak: 2019, about 526 per 100,000 boys. Babies per 100,000 boys, five-year periods.

1925-1929: 0 per 100,000 boys1930-1934: 0 per 100,000 boys1935-1939: 0 per 100,000 boys1940-1944: 0 per 100,000 boys19401945-1949: 0 per 100,000 boys1950-1954: 0 per 100,000 boys1955-1959: 0 per 100,000 boys1960-1964: 0 per 100,000 boys19601965-1969: 0 per 100,000 boys1970-1974: 2.8 per 100,000 boys1975-1979: 10.7 per 100,000 boys1980-1984: 18.2 per 100,000 boys19801985-1989: 15 per 100,000 boys1990-1994: 50.8 per 100,000 boys1995-1999: 144.8 per 100,000 boys2000-2004: 238.6 per 100,000 boys20002005-2009: 314.1 per 100,000 boys2010-2014: 410.3 per 100,000 boys2015-2019: 490.2 per 100,000 boys2020-2024: 485.7 per 100,000 boys20202015-2019: about 1 in 204 boys
Show the numbers
YearsPer 100,000 boys
1925–19290
1930–19340
1935–19390
1940–19440
1945–19490
1950–19540
1955–19590
1960–19640
1965–19690
1970–19742.8
1975–197910.7
1980–198418.2
1985–198915
1990–199450.8
1995–1999144.8
2000–2004238.6
2005–2009314.1
2010–2014410.3
2015–2019490.2
2020–2024485.7

Source: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (OGL-Ontario); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (OGL-BC). Dark bar: the period holding the median birth year.

Brothers and middle names for Elijah

Brother names

Names that rose and fell with Elijah, from the same generation, with no clashing sounds.

  1. 1 in 153, Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 202, Northern Ireland

  3. 1 in 204, England and Wales

  4. 1 in 162, Northern Ireland

  5. 1 in 209, England and Wales

  6. 1 in 136, Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 290, England and Wales

  8. 1 in 196, Scotland

  9. 1 in 169, Ireland

  10. 1 in 387, England and Wales

All 40 brother names for Elijah

Middle names

Scored for rhythm against Elijah's 3 syllables and for long, steady use.

  1. 1 in 50, Ireland

  2. 1 in 187, England and Wales

  3. 1 in 61, Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 118, England and Wales

  5. 1 in 105, Ireland

  6. 1 in 67, England and Wales

  7. 1 in 136, Northern Ireland

  8. 1 in 112, Northern Ireland

Full-name check

Elijah Jack

Syllables 3-1Initials E.J.No sound clashes between the parts.

All 40 middle names for Elijah

Sisters for Elijah: Maya, Zara, Abigail, and 5 more
  1. MayaRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah
  2. ZaraRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah
  3. AbigailRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah
  4. EdenRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah · Same initial as Elijah
  5. AvaRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah
  6. SiennaRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah
  7. EvieRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah · Same initial as Elijah
  8. MatildaRose and fell with Elijah · Same generation as Elijah

Girls' names from the same engine, over the girls' lists of the same publishers.

Moved with Elijah

The boy names whose popularity rose and fell most like Elijah's across every region and decade we hold.

  1. Rare in France, England and Wales, Italy, and 19 more places.

  2. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 14 more places.

  3. Rare across France, the UK, Italy, and 16 more places.

  4. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 18 more places.

  5. Rare across France, the UK, Italy, and 16 more places.

  6. Common across France, the UK, Italy, and 9 more places.

  7. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 15 more places.

  8. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 15 more places.

Famous people named Elijah

Elijah Wood, Elijah Muhammad, and 6 more

From Wikidata, ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article on them. People: Wikidata (CC0). Links go to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists, else English.

Questions about Elijah

How popular is Elijah in New South Wales?

Elijah ranked #7 in New South Wales in 2025, given to 349 boys.

Is Elijah rising in popularity?

In some places: it is rising in more of them than it is falling. Rising in 6 of the 20 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 2. Rising in: Scotland, Rostock, Bonn, Austria, Berlin, and 1 other region.

What does Elijah mean?

Elijah means “Yahweh is my god”, according to Wiktionary.

How many syllables does Elijah have?

Elijah has 3 syllables: ih-LY-juh.

Every rank and count on this page comes from an official birth register. How these figures are computed.

Meanings, origins and people: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikidata (CC0).

The 42 birth registers behind these figures

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Kept names collect here.

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