How common is the name Elijah?

252,751 people in the United States have the first name Elijah, about 1 in 1,195. It ranks #216 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ELIJAH

#216

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
252,751
About
1 in 1,195
This common or more
42.9%
Who bears it

Of the 252,751 people named Elijah, 42.5% reported their origin as White, 23.5% as Black and 21% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.6%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Elijah peaked in 2011, when 14,034 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2011
Births that year
14,034
In 2025*
11,126 ▼21%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 381,915 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Elijah by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #10. The largest share of babies named Elijah, 44.6%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#371856
1890s#537704
1900s#625725
1910s#7321,963
1920s#7512,767
1930s#8142,141
1940s#8882,404
1950s#1,0702,319
1960s#1,4251,524
1970s#9583,427
1980s#6087,652
1990s#20734,924
2000s#52110,848
2010s#15137,460
2020s#1072,201
Before 19010.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–271.3%
Silent Generation 1928–451.1%
Baby boom 1946–641.1%
Generation X 1965–801.3%
Millennials 1981–966.4%
Generation Z 1997–1244.6%
2013 and later43.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Elijah is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Elijah has been most common in Nevada (2.3×), Alaska (2×), and Florida (1.8×), and least common in Massachusetts (0.51×).

376,059 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Elijah

#214 Evan · 254,255#215 Tina · 253,384#217 Dawn · 252,273#218 Randy · 250,619

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Elijah, most common first.

#8,810 Elija · 1,623#10,767 Elyjah · 1,221#12,466 Elijiah · 998#14,820 Elizah · 788#17,543 Eligah · 627#22,112 Ellijah · 453#33,953 Eljah · 242#35,030 Elisah · 231

Also a last name

As a last name, Elijah ranks #23,593 of 156,621, with 1,110 people. See Elijah as a last name

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