Eli
Boy nameEli has been given to 154,512 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 2012 and currently ranks #104 for boys (2025).
Meaning & origin /ˈilaɪ/
From Hebrew עֵלִי (“ascent”); cognate to the Arabic-derived Ali.
Origin: Hebrew
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
154,512
Peak year
2012 (8,110 babies)
Rank in 2025
#104 for boys
First recorded
1880
10-year trend
▼ -52%
Gender split
1% girls / 99% boys
Famous people named Eli
Eli Wallach
American actor (1915–2014)
Ibn Hazm
Andalusian Muslim polymath, historian, jurist, philosopher and theologian (994–1064)
Eli Whitney
American inventor (1765-1825)
Eli Cohen
Israeli spy (1924–1965)
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Eli.
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