Elisha
Elisha is given to both girls and boys: 59 girls and 322 boys were given it in 2025 (#2,867 among girls’ names and #789 among boys’, #1,425 among all names counting both); 30,034 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Boys have outnumbered girls among babies named Elisha every year since 1996.
An estimated 26,200 Americans named Elisha and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (87% of everyone recorded); the median is 29 years old and half are between 16 and 43.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Elisha by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Elisha mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Elisha is “a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin, in quiet use since the 17th century.”
Also “a female given name, variant of Alicia.”
Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אֱלִישָׁע (ʾĔlîšāʿ).
/ɪˈlaɪʃə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Elisha?
#789 among boys’ names, 2025
Elisha fell from #776 in 2015 to #789 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 0.16 to 0.19 per 1,000.
736 babies in 1980, the peak
Elisha peaked in 1980, when 736 babies were given it (112 boys, #832 among boys’ names). The 381 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 52% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 59 | #2,867 | 322 | #789 |
| 2024 | 95 | #2,045 | 287 | #846 |
| 2023 | 77 | #2,361 | 283 | #853 |
| 2022 | 82 | #2,280 | 302 | #822 |
| 2021 | 81 | #2,272 | 266 | #869 |
| 2020 | 88 | #2,086 | 271 | #843 |
| 2019 | 118 | #1,751 | 319 | #749 |
| 2018 | 161 | #1,397 | 270 | #829 |
| 2017 | 138 | #1,583 | 286 | #799 |
| 2016 | 123 | #1,722 | 304 | #783 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 120 | #1,745 | 305 | #776 |
| 2014 | 138 | #1,571 | 327 | #733 |
| 2013 | 160 | #1,422 | 348 | #689 |
| 2012 | 140 | #1,560 | 317 | #733 |
| 2011 | 139 | #1,574 | 311 | #731 |
| 2010 | 138 | #1,585 | 364 | #659 |
| 2009 | 147 | #1,540 | 342 | #703 |
| 2008 | 147 | #1,563 | 392 | #630 |
| 2007 | 188 | #1,300 | 365 | #656 |
| 2006 | 167 | #1,371 | 376 | #627 |
| 2005 | 159 | #1,362 | 377 | #600 |
| 2004 | 201 | #1,135 | 359 | #599 |
| 2003 | 169 | #1,244 | 337 | #616 |
| 2002 | 166 | #1,214 | 336 | #602 |
| 2001 | 174 | #1,178 | 300 | #632 |
| 2000 | 190 | #1,086 | 277 | #652 |
| 1999 | 189 | #1,064 | 284 | #630 |
| 1998 | 219 | #941 | 254 | #671 |
| 1997 | 199 | #982 | 234 | #687 |
| 1996 | 224 | #880 | 230 | #697 |
| 1995 | 221 | #867 | 204 | #748 |
| 1994 | 247 | #815 | 178 | #793 |
| 1993 | 260 | #785 | 142 | #900 |
| 1992 | 296 | #723 | 137 | #901 |
| 1991 | 297 | #711 | 139 | #891 |
| 1990 | 348 | #646 | 118 | #957 |
| 1989 | 358 | #598 | 103 | #1,007 |
| 1988 | 402 | #543 | 90 | #1,039 |
| 1987 | 450 | #479 | 88 | #1,010 |
| 1986 | 428 | #499 | 80 | #1,044 |
| 1985 | 481 | #452 | 101 | #901 |
| 1984 | 468 | #443 | 115 | #815 |
| 1983 | 525 | #410 | 94 | #911 |
| 1982 | 540 | #417 | 108 | #857 |
| 1981 | 565 | #400 | 103 | #875 |
| 1980 | 624 | #373 | 112 | #832 |
| 1979 | 546 | #398 | 93 | #909 |
| 1978 | 444 | #446 | 87 | #929 |
| 1977 | 421 | #465 | 82 | #943 |
| 1976 | 300 | #561 | 64 | #1,043 |
| 1975 | 230 | #662 | 69 | #986 |
| 1974 | 184 | #759 | 48 | #1,203 |
| 1973 | 158 | #831 | 37 | #1,381 |
| 1972 | 181 | #767 | 45 | #1,236 |
| 1971 | 151 | #883 | 37 | #1,405 |
| 1970 | 127 | #986 | 39 | #1,338 |
| 1969 | 95 | #1,144 | 25 | #1,655 |
| 1968 | 70 | #1,328 | 22 | #1,704 |
| 1967 | 76 | #1,222 | 14 | #2,174 |
| 1966 | 54 | #1,518 | 24 | #1,594 |
| 1965 | 72 | #1,265 | 30 | #1,413 |
| 1964 | 57 | #1,500 | 31 | #1,414 |
| 1963 | 54 | #1,527 | 30 | #1,435 |
| 1962 | 40 | #1,809 | 34 | #1,348 |
| 1961 | 33 | #2,045 | 23 | #1,699 |
| 1960 | 49 | #1,602 | 29 | #1,492 |
| 1959 | 25 | #2,304 | 34 | #1,342 |
| 1958 | 8 | #4,623 | 32 | #1,379 |
| 1957 | 14 | #3,191 | 36 | #1,303 |
| 1956 | 10 | #3,983 | 36 | #1,287 |
| 1955 | under 5 | 44 | #1,117 | |
| 1954 | 5 | #5,977 | 44 | #1,125 |
| 1953 | 8 | #4,334 | 40 | #1,173 |
| 1952 | 5 | #5,801 | 41 | #1,158 |
| 1951 | 7 | #4,496 | 45 | #1,072 |
| 1950 | under 5 | 49 | #992 | |
| 1949 | 9 | #3,695 | 52 | #958 |
| 1948 | 9 | #3,670 | 43 | #1,084 |
| 1947 | 7 | #4,476 | 46 | #1,067 |
| 1946 | under 5 | 45 | #1,022 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 46 | #956 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 45 | #966 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 48 | #973 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 44 | #1,013 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 47 | #928 | |
| 1940 | 6 | #3,991 | 56 | #842 |
| 1939 | under 5 | 47 | #905 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 41 | #993 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 48 | #900 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 48 | #885 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 53 | #862 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 60 | #799 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 45 | #939 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 62 | #812 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 63 | #790 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 71 | #755 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 60 | #847 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 67 | #799 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 80 | #726 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 72 | #760 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 74 | #769 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 72 | #794 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 89 | #682 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 96 | #655 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 99 | #648 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 71 | #795 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 79 | #707 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 69 | #784 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 79 | #676 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 81 | #652 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 58 | #795 | |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,778 | 42 | #826 |
| 1913 | under 5 | 45 | #671 | |
| 1912 | under 5 | 44 | #628 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 27 | #588 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 25 | #571 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 24 | #534 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 11 | #843 | |
| 1907 | under 5 | 21 | #519 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 15 | #623 | |
| 1905 | under 5 | 16 | #599 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 25 | #420 | |
| 1903 | under 5 | 25 | #395 | |
| 1902 | under 5 | 23 | #427 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 19 | #437 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 37 | #362 | |
| 1899 | under 5 | 26 | #356 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 32 | #340 | |
| 1897 | under 5 | 18 | #459 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 23 | #408 | |
| 1895 | under 5 | 33 | #321 | |
| 1894 | under 5 | 27 | #351 | |
| 1893 | under 5 | 17 | #452 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 28 | #360 | |
| 1891 | under 5 | 28 | #318 | |
| 1890 | under 5 | 24 | #359 | |
| 1889 | under 5 | 29 | #325 | |
| 1888 | under 5 | 37 | #290 | |
| 1887 | under 5 | 20 | #368 | |
| 1886 | under 5 | 35 | #291 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 38 | #268 | |
| 1884 | under 5 | 39 | #272 | |
| 1883 | under 5 | 42 | #255 | |
| 1882 | under 5 | 35 | #290 | |
| 1881 | under 5 | 29 | #297 | |
| 1880 | under 5 | 32 | #293 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Elisha a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 30,034 Americans recorded as Elisha, 48% are girls and 52% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Elisha: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Elisha, and how old are they?
26,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 87% of the 30,034 Americans ever recorded as Elisha. The median Elisha alive today is 29 years old; half are between 16 and 43.
The 2020 Census counted 21,425 people named Elisha (12,119 women and girls, 9,306 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 24,516 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 171 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 755 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,260 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 7,860 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,840 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 5,290 |
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 Elisha born?
The states with the most babies named Elisha are California, Texas and New York, with 29% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 2,557 | #1,091 | 0.7× |
| Texas | 2,096 | #723 | 0.8× |
| New York | 1,598 | #853 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 1,488 | #689 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 1,140 | #810 | 1.3× |
| Ohio | 1,015 | #966 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 942 | #886 | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 800 | #716 | 0.6× |
| Tennessee | 740 | #504 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 737 | #1,169 | 0.5× |
Where Elisha is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Elisha is most over-represented in Georgia: since 1910 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
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 Elisha 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 3 names spelled alike, given to 30,383 babies since 1880, Elisha is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 381 of their 381 babies (100%), again the most given.
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.
More about Elisha and names like it
- Compare Elisha and ElishahBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sElisha peaked in 1980.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Elisha since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Elisha: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1980The year the most babies were named Elisha.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Elisha alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with EMost given first.