Given name & surname
Elia
“Jehovah is my God”·“The Lord answers our prayers”
In German use, Elia is a variant of Elias. In Hebrew use, Elias carries the interpretation “Jehovah is my God.” Elia is a variant of Eliana. One Hebrew interpretation is “The Lord answers our prayers.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In German use, Elia is a variant of Elias. In Hebrew use, Elias carries the interpretation “Jehovah is my God.” Elia is a variant of Eliana. One Hebrew interpretation is “The Lord answers our prayers.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Elia is a variant of Eliana. An origin associated with Eliana is Hebrew.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Biblical Hebrew אליהו ('Eliyáhu, “Yahweh is my god”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1884. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Elia through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 10,159
- 1,075 boys · 9,084 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 343 babies
- 2025
- 304
- #970 for girls · #3,008 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +36%
- Rising
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 9% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 263 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 970 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 35.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 41 birth records for boys in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (58). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 18,430 as a first name in 2020; 3,329 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.
Elia’s family of names
In Italian usage, Elia has a conventional equivalent in the English form Elijah. In German usage, Elia has a related form in Elias. In Italian usage, Elia has a conventional equivalent in the German form Elias.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Elia has relatives in 7 languages.
7 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 20
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Elia
- Elia KazanAmerican director and actor (1909–2003)
- Elia VivianiItalian racing cyclistborn 1989
- Meschak EliaCongolese association football playerborn 1997
- Elia Abu MadiLebanese-American poet1889–1957
- Elia Dalla CostaCatholic cardinal (1872–1961)
- Elia MillosevichItalian astronomer (1848-1919)
- Elia SuleimanPalestinian film director (born 1960)
- Elias of CortonaItalian franciscan and politician1178–1253
- Elia LevitaRenaissance Hebrew grammarian, scholar and poet (1469–1549)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Elia, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Iza
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Emanuela
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