Elijan
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "my God is Yahweh".
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the first name Elijan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elijan today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elijan births was 2010 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elijan. 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.
People living today
118
~ 1 in 2,904,698 Americans
Peak year
2010
12 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,887
Tracked since 1992
Census
Elijan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 146 people with the first name Elijan, which placed it at #46,062 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
#46,062
National first-name rank
People counted
146
146 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
34.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elijan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elijan is Black at 34.9%. The next largest groups are White (32.2%) and Hispanic (22.6%). 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 Elijan 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 Elijan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American34.9% · 51
- White32.2% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino22.6% · 33
- Two or more races6.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 2
Popularity
Elijan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elijan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 56 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elijan 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 Elijan 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 Elijan
The name Elijan has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is a variant spelling of the name Elijah, which is derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, meaning "my God is Yahweh." The name Elijah is found in the Hebrew Bible, where it refers to the prominent prophet Elijah, who played a significant role in the religious history of ancient Israel.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elijan can be found in the Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as a variant spelling of Elijah. The prophet Elijah is a central figure in the biblical narratives, known for his miracles and his unwavering devotion to the worship of the one true God.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Elijan or its variant spellings. In the 9th century, Elijah the Tishbite was a revered Christian hermit and saint who lived in the desert regions of present-day Israel and Jordan. Another famous bearer of the name was Elijah of Vilna (1720-1797), a renowned Lithuanian Jewish scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to the study of the Talmud and Jewish law.
In the realm of literature, Elijah Fenton (1683-1730) was an English poet and translator best known for his English translation of the works of classical authors such as Horace and Ovid. Elijah Lovejoy (1802-1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, and journalist who was killed for his opposition to slavery and his defense of freedom of the press.
Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975) was a prominent African-American religious leader and the leader of the Nation of Islam movement in the United States. He played a significant role in the promotion of black nationalism and the fight against racial discrimination.
These are just a few examples of the rich history and diverse individuals who have borne the name Elijan or its variant spellings throughout the centuries, reflecting its enduring presence across various cultures and belief systems.
People
Elijan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elijan 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
Elijan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elijan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 118 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elijan 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 2,904,698 US residents.
Is Elijan a common name?
We classify Elijan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 119 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elijan most popular?
The single biggest year for Elijan was 2010, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elijan is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elijan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 146 people with the name Elijan, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,062 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 Elijan 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 Elijan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elijan appears almost entirely male. Of the 149 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Elijan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elijan is Black at 34.9%. The next largest groups are White (32.2%) and Hispanic (22.6%). 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 Elijan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Elijan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.9% (51 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 Elijan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elijan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elijan 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 Elijan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elijan 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 Elijan 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 are named Elijan?
Want to know how many Americans are named Elijan? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.