Elihu

#6,212 in 2025Boys' name

My God is he

Elihu has been given to 1,236 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #6,212 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1928, with 26 recorded.

Babies named Elihu, 2025

1 in 237,000

Elihu over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Elihu: meaning, origin, and history

My God is he

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Elihu means

Elihu means “my God is he”.

Origin, language, and formation

Elihu is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,236 boys were recorded with the name Elihu between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 26 in 1928; its best national rank was #541 in 1881.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,086 in 2020 to #6,212 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #5,576 in 2015 to #6,212 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Elihu?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 237,000; 14 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 122,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #6,212; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 164,137 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Elihu sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 164,137 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Elihu. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Elihus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Elihu was born before 1964 — so the typical Elihu is around 61 today.

Median birth year: 1964; About 61 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 14.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 32.4%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 696; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 14.4% of all recorded uses (178).

Is Elihu rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: −714; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: −1,126; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −636; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.88×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 53.8%; Peak was 1928 (26)
Years since peak: 97; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 21.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #541; 1881

Spellings of Elihu

Elihu is not the most common spelling — Eli is, with 43.4% against Elihu's 0.35%.

Eli43.4%153,495
Elias36.5%129,263
Elisha4.4%15,668
Elian4.3%15,268
Eliot2.2%7,892
Elio1.5%5,174
Eliel1.4%4,922
Eliam1.3%4,439

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Elihu is used

Across 1910–2025, Elihu was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 343,119 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1New York1 in 100,000
2California1 in —
3Kentucky1 in —
4Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Elihu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Elihu around the world

Where Elihu ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2023–2023
#4,992
in 2023

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Elihu by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #6,212
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 1,126
Best rank ever: #541; 1881
Peak year: 1928; 26 that year
First recorded: 1880
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 1,236
Count in 2025: 14

Names similar to Elihu

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Elija Eliah Eligh Eliud Eliab Elier Elia Eliaz Eligio Eliyah Elijha Eliott Eliam Eliel Elion Elijiah Eliu Elie Eliyas Eliza Eliya Elior Eliot Eliceo

Sibling names for Elihu

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Marvel Billy Rosina Consuelo Bobby Bertie Concetta Marcelle

For a brother

Rolland Bud Rollin Alvis Domenick Merrill Wilton Jewel

Explore around Elihu

Top names of 1928, Elihu's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1881 Boys' names starting with E