Elilah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has answered".
Name Census estimates that about 102 living Americans carry the first name Elilah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elilah today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elilah births was 2021 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elilah. 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 Elilah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
102
~ 1 in 3,360,337 Americans
Peak year
2021
18 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,072
Tracked since 2012
Popularity
Elilah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elilah 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 55 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
Elilah 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 Elilah 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 Elilah
The name Elilah is of Hebrew origin, derived from the Hebrew word "elila" which means "God is my oath" or "God is my vow." The name first appeared in ancient Semitic texts dating back to around 1500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elilah can be found in the Book of Judges, a part of the Hebrew Bible. Here, Elilah was the name of a woman who lived in the Valley of Sorek and was associated with the biblical figure Samson. According to the narrative, Samson fell in love with Elilah, who ultimately betrayed him, leading to his capture by the Philistines.
In the 6th century BCE, there was a notable figure named Elilah ben Shemaiah, a scribe and prophet mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. He is recorded as one of the elders who urged King Jehoiakim to burn the scroll containing the prophecies of Jeremiah.
During the Middle Ages, the name Elilah was used by a few notable Jewish scholars and rabbis. One such figure was Elilah ben Avraham Ger Tzedek (born around 1050 CE), a respected Torah scholar and author from Spain.
In the 12th century, Elilah bat Shmuel was a prominent Jewish poet and philosopher from France. Her works, written in Hebrew, explored themes of love, faith, and the human condition.
Fast forward to the 19th century, Elilah Bet-Zuri (1818-1897) was a renowned Hebrew author and translator from Palestine. She is credited with translating several classic works of literature into Hebrew, helping to revive and promote the language during that period.
Throughout history, the name Elilah has been relatively uncommon, but it has been used across various Jewish communities, particularly in the Middle East and Europe. Its rich biblical and cultural roots have given the name a sense of spiritual significance and literary heritage.
People
Elilah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elilah 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
Elilah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elilah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elilah 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 3,360,337 US residents.
Is Elilah a common name?
We classify Elilah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elilah most popular?
The single biggest year for Elilah was 2021, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elilah is about 7 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 Elilah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elilah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elilah 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 Elilah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elilah 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 Elilah 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 people are called Elilah?
You can see how many Americans are named Elilah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.