Meaning and history
Elijah comes from the Hebrew name אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu), meaning “my God is Yahweh,” from אֵל (ʾel) and יָהּ (yah), both referring to the Hebrew God. In the Old Testament’s Books of Kings, Elijah is a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker active in the 9th century BC under King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, whom he challenged for worshiping Ba’al and other wrongdoing; he was later taken to heaven in a chariot of fire and succeeded by Elisha. The New Testament also names Elijah with Moses at Jesus’ Transfiguration. The name spread in the Middle Ages because of his popularity in medieval stories and because early saints bore the related Latin form Elias; in medieval England it was usually spelled Elis, disappeared by the 16th century, and was revived by Puritans after the Protestant Reformation as Elijah. It rose in popularity again in the 1990s and 2000s, especially in the United States, where it entered the top ten in 2016.
20062006: 12,055 births, rank #29
2007: 12,424 births, rank #30
2008: 13,241 births, rank #22
2009: 12,846 births, rank #21
2010: 13,920 births, rank #18
20112011: 14,001 births, rank #13
2012: 13,914 births, rank #13
2013: 13,829 births, rank #11
2014: 13,886 births, rank #11
2015: 13,710 births, rank #11
20162016: 13,982 births, rank #9
2017: 13,449 births, rank #8
2018: 13,020 births, rank #7
2019: 13,436 births, rank #5
2020: 13,238 births, rank #4
20212021: 12,845 births, rank #4
2022: 12,094 births, rank #5
2023: 11,523 births, rank #5
2024: 11,238 births, rank #8
20252025: 11,111 births, rank #7
Elijah has made a dramatic comeback. After first appearing in the US records in 1880, it fell to #680 by 1968, before climbing to #7 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2011, with 14,001 births.