Elias
- Pronunciation
- [E-li-as]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- My God Is Jehovah. Variant Of Hebrew Elijah.
- Origin
- Spanish
About the Name Elias
Elias is the Greek and Latin form of Elijah, descending through Greek Ēlias from the Hebrew Eliyahu — composed of El (God) and a verbal form of Yahweh, together meaning "my God is Yahweh." The Hebrew biblical figure Elijah (see separate entry) is rendered as Elias in the Greek New Testament and Latin Vulgate, and the Greek/Latin form became the standard in most European Christian-language traditions: Spanish Elías, Portuguese Elias, German Elias, and Scandinavian Elias.
Elias has been continuously used in Christian European naming for over a millennium, while the Hebraized form Elijah was relatively rare in English-speaking usage until the 20th-century Old Testament revival. Notable bearers include American inventor Elias Howe (1819–1867, inventor of the lock-stitch sewing machine), Greek Orthodox Patriarch Elias of Constantinople, and 19th-century Spanish-American architect Elias Hasket Derby.
The American Elias surge is recent and dramatic, climbing from outside the US top 200 in 2000 to the top 50 by 2020 — driven partly by Spanish-language naming influence (Elías is a top-rank boys' name in many Latin American countries) and partly by the broader return to long-form religious names alongside Elijah, Sebastian, and Isaiah. The name's appeal is its layered cosmopolitanism: religiously anchored, instantly readable in nearly every European language, three soft syllables, and tonal warmth that contrasts with the harder English Elijah. Common nicknames Eli, Lias, and the rarer Elie each carry distinct registers; the related variants include Elijah (English Hebrew form), Eliyahu (Hebrew), Ilyas (Arabic, recognized as a prophet in Islam), and the diminutive Elia (Italian, gender-neutral).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Elias
US Popularity History (2000–2025)
Annual US births named Elias by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2025 with 8,837 boys named Elias (boy rank #13 that year).
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Elias Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Elias the strongest states are New Mexico, Alaska, Arizona.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | #23 | 483 |
| 2 | Alaska | #28 | 211 |
| 3 | Arizona | #29 | 1,768 |
| 4 | Colorado | #31 | 1,281 |
| 5 | California | #35 | 9,161 |
| 6 | Hawaii | #37 | 210 |
| 7 | Nevada | #38 | 628 |
| 8 | Texas | #40 | 7,539 |
| 9 | Washington | #45 | 1,335 |
| 10 | Oregon | #47 | 650 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | #141 | 240 |
| 2 | Louisiana | #120 | 477 |
| 3 | Alabama | #114 | 520 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | #99 | 105 |
| 5 | Vermont | #95 | 41 |
| 6 | Minnesota | #93 | 652 |
| 7 | Kentucky | #93 | 552 |
| 8 | West Virginia | #93 | 224 |
| 9 | South Dakota | #92 | 134 |
| 10 | Maine | #91 | 136 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Elias in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eli | Ascended Or My God. The Biblical High Priest Eli Judged Israel For 40 Years And Instructed The Young Samuel. | Male | Hebrew |
| Elia | My God Is Jehovah. Variant Of Hebrew Elijah. | Male | Spanish |
| Eliot | Believes In God | Male | French |
| Elli | Devoted To God | Female | Hebrew |
| Ellice | Variant Of Elias Which Is The Greek Form Of Elijah. | Female | English |
| Elliot | Variant Of Elijah My God Is Jehovah. | Male | English |
| Ellis | Variant Of Elias From Elijah My God Is Jehovah. | Male | English |
| Ilia | God Is Lord | Female | Hebrew |
Looking for names like Elias?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Elias to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Elias against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Elias Baby Name Ideas
- Should First and Middle Names Start With the Same Letter? Testing Alliteration Beyond the Monogram
- Can Initials Count as an Honor Name? Building a Clear Indirect Namesake
- Baby Names for Multiword Last Names: Keeping the Full Name Clear Without Flattening the Surname
- Should a Baby's Name Match the Parents' Names? Creating Family Cohesion Without a Theme
- Who Should See Your Baby Name Shortlist? Getting Useful Feedback Without Turning It Into a Vote
- The Best Middle Names for Elias: Pairings That Give a Soft Ending a Clear Next Beat
- Should You Choose a Backup Baby Name Before Birth? Giving a Second Choice a Clear Job
- The Best Middle Names for Hudson: Pairings That Balance a Surname-Style First Name
- Should Every Child in a Family Receive an Honor Name?
- Should a Baby’s Legal Name and Ceremonial Name Be the Same?
- The Best Middle Names for David: Pairings That Keep a Compact Classic From Feeling Abrupt
- The Best Middle Names for Joseph: Pairings That Separate the Full Name From Joe and Joey
- When a First Name Ends With the Sound a Last Name Starts With: Fixing a Blurred Name Boundary
- Should You Name a Baby After a Living Relative? Making the Honor Clear Without Creating a Role
- Baby Names for Last Names Ending in -son: Avoiding a Surname Stack
- How to Decide Whether a Word Name Will Work in Everyday Life
- The Best Middle Names for Jacob: Pairings for a Warm Two-Syllable Classic
- The Best Middle Names for Ezra: Bright Biblical Pairings With a Clean Landing
- Soft Girl Names: Gentle Choices with Substance, Not Fragility
- The Best Middle Names for Mateo: A Sound-First Pairing Guide