Eijah
A masculine given name of obscure origin, possibly related to Elijah.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Eijah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eijah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eijah births was 2012 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eijah. 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 Eijah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2012
5 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2012 SSA rank
#12,809
Tracked since 2012
Census
Eijah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 134 people with the first name Eijah, which placed it at #48,062 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
#48,062
National first-name rank
People counted
134
134 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
35.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eijah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eijah is White at 35.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.1%) and Hispanic (20.9%). 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 Eijah 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 Eijah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White35.8% · 48
- Black or African American26.1% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino20.9% · 28
- Two or more races9.7% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.2% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 3
Popularity
Eijah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Eijah 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 Eijah 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 Eijah
The name Eijah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is believed to be a variant or diminutive form of the more common biblical name Elijah, which means "my God is Yahweh" or "Yahweh is God." The name Elijah is derived from the combination of the Hebrew elements "El" (meaning God) and "Yah" (a shortened form of the divine name Yahweh).
The name Eijah, like its parent name Elijah, has a strong connection to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). It is the name of a prominent prophet in the Books of Kings, who played a significant role in the confrontation with the pagan worship of Baal during the reign of King Ahab in the 9th century BCE. The biblical prophet Elijah is revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for his teachings and miracles.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Eijah can be found in the writings of the Jewish philosopher and theologian Philo of Alexandria, who lived in the 1st century CE. He mentions an individual named Eijah in his work "On the Life of Moses." However, the name was relatively rare in ancient times and gained more widespread use in later centuries.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Eijah or its variants:
1. Eijah ben Shmuel (12th century CE) - A Jewish scholar and biblical commentator from Provence, France, known for his work on the Talmud and Jewish law.
2. Eijah al-Hajri (fl. 13th century CE) - An Arabian poet and philosopher from the region of Hajr, known for his contributions to Sufi literature.
3. Eijah Wilkinson (1832-1909) - An American abolitionist and civil rights activist who played a significant role in the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom.
4. Eijah Muhammad (1897-1975) - An influential African-American religious leader and the founder of the Nation of Islam, a religious movement that advocated for black empowerment and self-determination.
5. Eijah Wood (born 1981) - An American actor best known for his role as Frodo Baggins in the iconic "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, based on the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien.
While the name Eijah has maintained a modest presence throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to its parent name Elijah. However, its strong biblical and cultural roots have endowed it with a sense of significance and meaning, particularly within religious and spiritual contexts.
People
Eijah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eijah 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
Eijah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eijah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eijah 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 Eijah a common name?
We classify Eijah 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 Eijah most popular?
The single biggest year for Eijah was 2012, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eijah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eijah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 134 people with the name Eijah, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,062 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 Eijah 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 Eijah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eijah leans strongly male. 121 people counted with this name were male (89.6%), compared with 14 female bearers (10.4%). 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 Eijah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eijah is White at 35.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.1%) and Hispanic (20.9%). 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 Eijah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eijah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.8% (48 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 Eijah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eijah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eijah 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 Eijah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eijah 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 Eijah 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 have Eijah as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Eijah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.