Ehlijah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "my God is Yahweh".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Ehlijah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ehlijah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ehlijah births was 2013 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ehlijah. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ehlijah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2013
5 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2013 SSA rank
#12,675
Tracked since 2013
Popularity
Ehlijah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ehlijah 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 Ehlijah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ehlijah
The name Ehlijah is a variation of the Hebrew name Elijah, which means "my God is Yahweh" or "Yahweh is God." It originated in ancient Israel, likely during the 9th century BCE, and is derived from the combination of the Hebrew words "El" (meaning God) and "Yah" (a shortened form of the divine name Yahweh).
The name Elijah is prominently featured in the Hebrew Bible, where it is borne by the famous prophet Elijah, who played a crucial role in the religious and political affairs of the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. The biblical accounts of Elijah's life and miracles are found in the books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elijah can be found in the Lachish Letters, a collection of ancient Hebrew inscriptions dating back to the 6th century BCE. These letters, written by military commanders during the Babylonian invasion of Judah, mention an individual named Elijah.
Throughout history, the name Elijah (and its variations) has been borne by several notable figures. One of the most famous was Elijah Benamozegh (1823-1900), an Italian rabbi and philosopher who made significant contributions to the study of Kabbalah and Jewish thought.
Another prominent individual was Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975), a religious leader and influential figure in the Nation of Islam movement in the United States. He played a crucial role in promoting the teachings of Islam and advocating for the rights of African Americans.
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (1720-1797), also known as the Vilna Gaon, was a renowned Lithuanian rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and leader of the Mitnagdim movement in Judaism.
Elijah Lovejoy (1802-1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, and journalist who was murdered by a pro-slavery mob for his anti-slavery editorials and publications.
Elijah McCoy (1844-1929), an African American inventor and engineer, is credited with developing several important inventions, including a lubricating cup for steam engines that revolutionized the industry.
People
Ehlijah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ehlijah 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
Ehlijah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ehlijah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ehlijah 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Ehlijah a common name?
We classify Ehlijah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ehlijah most popular?
The single biggest year for Ehlijah was 2013, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ehlijah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ehlijah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ehlijah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ehlijah 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 Ehlijah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ehlijah 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 Ehlijah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Ehlijah?
You can see how many Americans are named Ehlijah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.