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NameAlmanac

Eli

Boys’ name Recorded 1880-2025

Eli was given to 3,418 boys in 2025, #104 among boys’ names; 154,512 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 143,000 Americans named Eli and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (93% of everyone recorded); the median is 13 years old and half are between 8 and 19.

Babies named Eli each year, first recorded in 1880
Eli, 1880-2025; highest in 2012.2k4k6k8k10k188019001920194019601980200020252012 peak: 8,110
Eli, 1880-2025; highest in 2012.2k4k6k8k10k188019001920194019601980200020252012 peak: 8,110
Eli, 1880-2025; highest in 2012.2k4k6k8k10k18801905193019551980200520252012 peak: 8,110
Eli, 1880-2025; highest in 2012.2k4k6k8k10k18801930198020252012 peak: 8,110

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Eli or EloyNames of the 2010sNames in California

Births of Eli by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Eli mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Eli is “a male given name from Hebrew of Biblical origin.” Its etymology gives the sense “ascent” (עֵלִי).

From Hebrew עֵלִי (“ascent”); cognate to the Arabic-derived Ali.

/ˈilaɪ/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Eli (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Eli?

#104 among boys’ names, 2025

Eli fell from #53 in 2015 to #104 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 3.7 to 2.0 per 1,000.

8,110 babies in 2012, the peak

Eli peaked in 2012, when 8,110 babies were given it (8,079 boys, #43 among boys’ names). The 3,453 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 43% of that peak.

Eli by year
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 boys
20253,418#1042.0
20243,742#922.2
20234,111#792.4
20224,704#692.7
20214,913#642.8
20205,281#603.1
20195,539#623.1
20186,094#573.4
20176,637#543.6
20167,132#503.8
Every recorded year (146)
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 boys
20157,163#533.7
20147,513#493.9
20137,952#434.2
20128,079#434.3
20117,220#583.8
20106,571#653.4
20094,923#902.5
20084,526#992.2
20073,253#1291.6
20062,997#1361.5
20052,699#1521.4
20042,557#1561.3
20031,995#1901.0
20021,953#1941.0
20011,644#2130.85
20001,496#2280.76
19991,068#2760.56
19981,016#2830.53
1997866#3090.46
1996891#2980.47
1995864#3040.45
1994893#3020.46
1993877#3090.45
1992708#3400.35
1991712#3410.35
1990667#3590.32
1989624#3620.31
1988543#3720.28
1987550#3530.29
1986563#3410.31
1985558#3420.30
1984507#3590.28
1983518#3500.29
1982503#3570.28
1981550#3370.31
1980539#3420.30
1979498#3530.29
1978441#3650.27
1977476#3610.29
1976381#3970.24
1975338#4260.22
1974373#4010.24
1973339#4250.22
1972264#4840.16
1971268#4930.15
1970232#5300.12
1969129#6970.07
1968139#6420.08
1967126#6660.07
1966117#6850.07
1965117#6890.06
1964121#7040.06
1963139#6620.07
1962140#6550.07
1961146#6480.07
1960149#6380.07
1959146#6390.07
1958117#6930.06
1957129#6720.06
1956153#6100.07
1955119#6700.06
1954135#6320.07
1953126#6360.06
1952140#5910.07
1951142#5810.08
1950139#5740.08
1949125#6060.07
1948137#5680.08
1947143#5670.08
1946116#5990.07
1945125#5360.09
1944124#5450.09
1943118#5860.08
1942130#5380.09
1941130#5220.11
1940140#4920.12
1939110#5470.10
1938119#5360.11
1937144#4700.14
1936161#4440.16
1935175#4190.17
1934176#4220.17
1933157#4390.16
1932186#4110.18
1931174#4320.17
1930190#4300.17
1929198#4180.18
1928215#4110.19
1927224#4000.20
1926266#3570.24
1925291#3410.26
1924247#3800.22
1923260#3690.24
1922275#3590.25
1921291#3470.26
1920253#3760.24
1919241#3730.25
1918286#3380.28
1917246#3550.27
1916271#3190.30
1915269#3170.32
1914208#3150.32
1913167#3080.33
1912159#2850.37
191181#2960.36
191063#3120.32
190960#2940.37
190855#2930.36
190750#3030.34
190644#3120.33
190543#3080.33
190443#2960.34
190347#2690.39
190251#2600.42
190145#2550.42
190045#3160.30
189938#2810.36
189846#2640.37
189739#2910.35
189643#2790.36
189555#2390.47
189460#2200.52
189353#2360.47
189260#2270.49
189149#2310.48
189049#2390.44
188960#2120.54
188875#2000.62
188751#2230.50
188666#2020.60
188556#2140.52
188467#2000.59
188382#1560.78
188294#1460.83
188197#1211.0
188073#1770.66

Download Eli’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.

Is Eli a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Eli has been given almost only to boys: 1,017 girls in 146 years of records.

Girls and boys named Eli: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Eli, and how old are they?

143,000 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 93% of the 154,512 Americans ever recorded as Eli. The median Eli alive today is 13 years old; half are between 8 and 19.

The 2020 Census counted 122,713 people named Eli (2,074 women and girls, 120,639 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 119,604 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% above that prediction.

Alive today, by age

100-1095
90-99118
80-89409
70-79818
60-691,010
50-592,300
40-494,790
30-397,030
20-2917,900
10-19 (median)63,700
0-944,100

Alive today, by generation

By generation
GenerationBornAlive
Silent Generation1928-1945470
Baby Boomers1946-19641,700
Generation X1965-19804,330
Millennials1981-199610,200
Generation Z1997-201252,500
Generation Alpha2013-202574,100

An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.

Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).

Where are babies named Eli born?

The states with the most babies named Eli are Texas, California and New York, with 28% of its births recorded by state in 2025.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among boys’ names in the state in 2025
StateBirths 2025Rank, boysvs. national
Texas363#1100.9×
California348#1170.8×
New York248#671.0×
Florida221#1020.8×
Pennsylvania138#901.0×
Ohio117#1141.1×
New Jersey115#780.6×
Illinois103#1160.8×
North Carolina100#1231.0×
Georgia95#1220.9×

Where Eli is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Eli is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 1.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

New Mexico1.19×
Indiana1.17×
Tennessee1.16×
Kentucky1.14×
Wisconsin1.13×
Minnesota1.12×
Oklahoma1.12×
Kansas1.10×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Eli with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.

Names spelled alike

Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 180,025 babies since 1880, Eli is the most given (86% of them). In 2025 it was given to 3,453 of their 4,519 babies (76%), again the most given.

Eli and the names spelled alike
NameSince 1880Births 2025Peak year
Eli154,5123,4532012
Eloy8,325411993
Elio5,1748182025
Ely5,087652009
Elie3,405422009
Eliah1,627512016
Elihu1,236141928
Elya659352019

Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Eli

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

NameRecorded1880-2025
Gibson5,561
Titus26,823
Uriah12,992
Ryland13,985
Owen246,320
Carter216,871

Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

More about Eli and names like it

  1. Compare Eli and EloyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
  2. The most given names of the 2010sEli peaked in 2012.
  3. California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Eli since 1910.
  4. The top names of 2012The year the most babies were named Eli.
  5. The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Eli alive today were born 2013-2025.
  6. Names starting with EMost given first.

Compare Eli with another name