Elaiya
A masculine name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God is my strength".
Name Census estimates that about 93 living Americans carry the first name Elaiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elaiya today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elaiya births was 2021 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elaiya. 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 Elaiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Elaiya. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
93
~ 1 in 3,685,531 Americans
Peak year
2021
16 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,064
Tracked since 2013
Popularity
Elaiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elaiya from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 61 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elaiya 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 Elaiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elaiya
The name Elaiya has its origins in Hebrew, derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, meaning "my God is Yahweh" or "Yahweh is God." It is a variant spelling of the more commonly known name Elijah, which appears in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.
The earliest known historical reference to the name Elaiya is found in the Old Testament, where it refers to the prophet Elijah, one of the most important figures in the Jewish religion. Elijah, also known as Elaiya, lived in the 9th century BCE and is revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for his miraculous deeds and his unwavering devotion to God.
In the Bible, Elaiya is depicted as a powerful prophet who performed numerous miracles, including raising the dead, bringing fire down from heaven, and ascending to heaven in a whirlwind. His name has become synonymous with courage, faith, and divine intervention.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Elaiya or its variant spellings. One of the earliest recorded examples is Elaiya ben Abuyah, a 2nd-century Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in ancient Judea. Another prominent figure was Elaiya Mashiach, a 17th-century Karaite Jewish scholar and author from the Ottoman Empire.
In the Christian tradition, the name Elaiya is associated with St. Elias, also known as St. Elijah, who is revered as a prophet and a saint. He is celebrated in various Christian churches, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions.
Other notable individuals with the name Elaiya include Elaiya Abu Madi, a 12th-century Jewish philosopher and poet from Spain, and Elaiya Delmedigo, a 16th-century Jewish scholar and mathematician from Crete.
While the name Elaiya has its roots in the Hebrew language and culture, it has been adopted and adapted by various communities around the world, each with their own interpretations and significance attached to the name.
People
Elaiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elaiya 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
Elaiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elaiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 93 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elaiya 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 3,685,531 US residents.
Is Elaiya a common name?
We classify Elaiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 94 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elaiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Elaiya was 2021, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elaiya is about 6 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 Elaiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elaiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elaiya 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 Elaiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elaiya 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 Elaiya 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 Americans are named Elaiya?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Elaiya at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.