Elianah
Hebrew feminine name meaning "God has answered".
Name Census estimates that about 681 living Americans carry the first name Elianah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elianah today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elianah births was 2019 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elianah. 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 Elianah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
681
~ 1 in 503,310 Americans
Peak year
2019
54 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,760
Tracked since 2001
Census
Elianah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 421 people with the first name Elianah, which placed it at #23,301 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
#23,301
National first-name rank
People counted
421
421 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
38.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elianah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elianah is Hispanic at 38.0%. The next largest groups are White (36.8%) and Black (11.6%). 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 Elianah 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 Elianah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino38.0% · 160
- White36.8% · 155
- Black or African American11.6% · 49
- Two or more races9.3% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 7
Popularity
Elianah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elianah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 401 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elianah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elianah 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 Elianah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elianahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Elianah, while Washington, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elianah
The name Elianah is a Hebrew name with its origins dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "El," meaning "God," and "ana," meaning "answered." The name Elianah can be translated to mean "God has answered" or "answered by God."
In the Bible, the name Elianah is mentioned in the Book of Ezra. Elianah was a leader among the Israelites who returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity around 538 BCE. This early reference suggests that the name was in use during the period of the Babylonian exile and the subsequent return to Judah.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Elianah was Elianah ben Hakaliah, a scribe from the tribe of Benjamin who lived during the 5th century BCE. He is mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah as one of the scribes who assisted in the reading and interpretation of the Torah after the Israelites returned from Babylon.
In the Middle Ages, the name Elianah was found among Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East. One notable figure was Elianah ben Yakar, a 12th-century rabbi and scholar from Provence, France. He was known for his expertise in Hebrew grammar and his commentary on the Talmud.
Another historical figure named Elianah was Elianah ben Shlomo ha-Levi, a 16th-century rabbi and kabbalist from Safed, Palestine. He was renowned for his mystical writings and his contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism, particularly in the field of Kabbalah.
In more recent times, Elianah was the name of Elianah Suleiman, a 19th-century Palestinian poet and writer from Jerusalem. She was known for her literary works that celebrated Palestinian culture and heritage.
While the name Elianah has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has been used across various communities and regions throughout history. Its meaning, "answered by God," has resonated with many, making it a popular choice among those seeking a name with spiritual significance.
People
Elianah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elianah 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
Elianah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elianah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 681 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elianah 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 503,310 US residents.
Is Elianah a common name?
We classify Elianah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 687 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elianah most popular?
The single biggest year for Elianah was 2019, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elianah is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elianah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 421 people with the name Elianah, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,301 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 Elianah 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 Elianah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elianah appears almost entirely female. Of the 415 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Elianah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elianah is Hispanic at 38.0%. The next largest groups are White (36.8%) and Black (11.6%). 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 Elianah most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elianah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.0% (160 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 Elianah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elianah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elianah 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 Elianah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elianah 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 Elianah 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 Americans are named Elianah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.