Eliam
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "my God is exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 3,326 living Americans carry the first name Eliam. It sits at #381 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eliam today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eliam births was 2024 (853 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eliam. 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 Eliam with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Eliam is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 6 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 103,053 Americans
Peak year
2024
853 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#381
Tracked since 2000
Census
Eliam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,067 people with the first name Eliam, which placed it at #11,844 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
#11,844
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,067 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
75.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eliam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eliam is Hispanic at 75.1%. The next largest groups are White (15.0%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Eliam 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 Eliam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino75.1% · 801
- White15.0% · 160
- Black or African American5.1% · 54
- Two or more races2.6% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 5
Popularity
Eliam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eliam from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,200 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
Eliam 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 Eliam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eliams live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Eliam, while Nevada, Mississippi, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 70 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eliam
The name Eliam has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, and it can be traced back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "El," meaning "God," and "am," meaning "people" or "nation." Thus, the name Eliam can be interpreted to mean "God's people" or "God's nation."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Eliam can be found in the Bible. In the Book of Chronicles, Eliam is mentioned as one of the sons of Bathsheba and King David. This biblical reference suggests that the name has been in use for over 3,000 years.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have been named Eliam. One of the earliest recorded was Eliam ben Meir, a 12th-century French rabbi and commentator on the Talmud, who lived from approximately 1120 to 1190 AD. His contributions to Jewish scholarship and teaching were significant during his lifetime.
Another prominent figure with the name Eliam was Eliam Suleiman, an influential Arab poet and writer from the 10th century. Born in modern-day Iraq around 930 AD, he was renowned for his poetic works and is considered one of the greatest poets of the Abbasid era.
In more recent times, Eliam Monjardyn was a French painter and illustrator who lived from 1836 to 1910. He was known for his paintings depicting scenes from rural life in France and his illustrations for various books and publications.
Additionally, Eliam Kraushaar was a German-American composer and conductor who lived from 1902 to 1985. He made significant contributions to the world of classical music, composing several works and conducting various orchestras throughout his career.
One of the most recent notable individuals named Eliam was Eliam Sohny, a Liberian diplomat and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Liberia from 1972 to 1980. He played a significant role in international relations and diplomacy during his tenure.
While the name Eliam has ancient roots and historical significance, it is important to note that this detailed report focuses solely on the first name and does not include information about its use as a surname or any modern census data.
People
Eliam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eliam 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
Eliam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eliam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,326 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eliam 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 103,053 US residents.
Is Eliam a common name?
We classify Eliam as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,349 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eliam most popular?
The single biggest year for Eliam was 2024, when 853 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eliam is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eliam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,067 people with the name Eliam, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,844 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 Eliam 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 Eliam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eliam leans strongly male. 1,030 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 30 female bearers (2.8%). 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 Eliam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eliam is Hispanic at 75.1%. The next largest groups are White (15.0%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Eliam most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Eliam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.1% (801 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 Eliam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eliam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eliam 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 Eliam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eliam 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 Eliam 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 common is the name Eliam?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.