Elias
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "The Lord is my God".
Roughly 113,071 people in the United States go by the first name Elias, which ranks #25 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elias today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elias births was 2024 (7,660 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Jaime (112,837).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elias. 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
- • Although Elias is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 231 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Elias is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
113K
~ 1 in 3,031 Americans
Peak year
2024
7,660 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#25
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Elias
Out of the 120,601 babies given the name Elias since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Elias as a male name
- Ranked #25 in 2024
- 7,653 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (7,653 births)
Elias as a female name
- Ranked #12,489 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (13 births)
Popularity
Elias: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elias from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 40,965 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
Elias 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 Elias during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elias' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Elias, while Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,262 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elias
The name Elias is a masculine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, meaning "Yahweh is my God." The name dates back to ancient times and has been used across various cultures and religions.
The earliest known reference to the name Elias can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it is the name of the prophet Elijah. Elijah was a prominent figure in the Old Testament, known for his miracles and his role in the confrontation with the priests of Baal. His story is recounted in the Books of Kings and is significant in both Judaism and Christianity.
In the New Testament, Elias is the Greek form of the name used for Elijah. The name appears in the Gospels, where Jesus refers to Elijah and identifies him as one of the two witnesses who will precede the end times.
Throughout history, the name Elias has been borne by various notable figures. One of the earliest recorded examples is Elias of Crete (c. 760-867 CE), a Byzantine monk and hymnographer who composed liturgical hymns and is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Elias Holl (1573-1646), a German Lutheran theologian and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of Protestant scholasticism.
In the realm of literature, Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884) was a Finnish philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for compiling the Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, which had a profound impact on Finnish literature and culture.
Elias Canetti (1905-1994) was a Bulgarian-born British novelist, playwright, and non-fiction writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981 for his work, which explored the interplay between individuals and masses.
Another notable figure was Elias Pettersson (1938-2022), a Swedish professional ice hockey player and coach who played for the Detroit Red Wings and is considered one of the greatest players in Swedish hockey history.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Elias, a name that has endured across cultures and generations, reflecting its ancient origins and rich heritage.
People
Elias + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elias 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
Elias: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elias?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113,071 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elias 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 3,031 US residents.
Is Elias a common name?
We classify Elias as "Common". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 120,601 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elias most popular?
The single biggest year for Elias was 2024, when 7,660 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elias is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Elias a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Elias 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.
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.