Given name & surname
Eli
“one who has ascended; my God on high”
Eli is used as a given name and a surname. One Hebrew interpretation is “one who has ascended; my God on high.”
Original Hebrewאֵלִי
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “one who has ascended; my God on high.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
How it developed
In Norwegian usage, Eli is a short form of Helen. Eli is a short form of Elisha.
The story
The name appears in biblical tradition, giving it a longstanding religious and cultural context.
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Eli appears in 1 Samuel 1:3, Luke 3:23, Matthew 27:46 and 4 other passages.
- 1 Samuel 1:3
- Luke 3:23
- Matthew 27:46
- Mark 15:34
- 1 Samuel 2:17
- 1 Samuel 4:18
- 1 Kings 2:27
From biblical name research
Eli through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 154,512
- 153,495 boys · 1,017 girls
- Most popular year
- 2012
- 8,110 babies
- 2025
- 3,453
- #104 for boys · #4,099 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −32%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 3,418 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 104 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 31.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 8,079 in 2012. It also appeared in 35 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (363). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 122,713 as a first name in 2020; 1,683 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Eli’s family of names
In Norwegian usage, Eli is a short form of Helen. In English usage, Eli shares a linguistic root with the Finnish form EELI. Eli has a related form in Eliana.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Eli has relatives in 21 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Elianavariant
- Helenfull form · Norwegian
- Elishafull form
- Elyvariant · Malagasy
- Elinfull form · Norwegian
- Elievariant
- Elyevariant
- Élisabethfull form · French
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Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 22
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 10
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
- Elijahsee also
- Eliseosee also
- Eliezersee also
- Aliahshares a root
- Elyonshares a root
- Alianshares a root
- Ullashares a root
- Alvanshares a root
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People named Eli
- Eli WallachAmerican actor (1915–2014)
- Ibn HazmAndalusian Muslim polymath, historian, jurist, philosopher and theologian (994–1064)
- Eli WhitneyAmerican inventor (1765-1825)
- Eli CohenIsraeli spy (1924–1965)
- Eli RothAmerican filmmaker and actorborn 1972
- Eli HeckscherSwedish historian and economist (1879–1952)
- Eli ManningAmerican football player (born 1981)
- Eli Junior KroupiFrench footballer (born 2006)
- Eli CohenIsraeli politician, Minister of Energy of Israelborn 1972
Characters named Eli: Liquid Snake (the Metal Gear series), Eli Wallace (Stargate Universe).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Eli, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Emmanuel
“God is with us”
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Abel
“the life force; breath”
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Uriel
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Axel
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Jeremiah
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Isaac
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Ezekiel
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>99% boys