Eli

Did you know?

A few things about Eli you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Eli

Eli Wallach

American actor (1915–2014)

Choose Eli and your child shares a first name with Eli Wallach, an American actor. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Eli, like who?” Eli Wallach's Wikipedia article is available in 64 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Eli Wallach on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Studio, Public domain (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 500 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Eli, 3,418 babies in all. In a school of 500 kids, there'd probably be one other Eli.
• 📜HistoryEli has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Elis, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2013, when it reached #43.
• 📈Then vs nowEli is 2.6× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 1,313 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 500.
• 🍂TrendEli has slipped 44 places over the last five years and now sits at #104. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedEli is most popular in Maine, where it ranks #47, followed by Alaska (#65) and New York (#67). It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• 💬MeaningIn Hebrew, Eli means “ascended”. Our records link it to Hebrew and Hungarian roots.
• 🌍OriginEli is the most popular Hungarian boy name in the US. That's out of 27 Hungarian boy and unisex names in our list.

About the name Eli

Eli is a boy name of Hebrew and Hungarian origin meaning “ascended”. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with E and ending in “-eli”. US birth records list Eli for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 2013, when it ranked #43 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #104, with 3,418 babies.

Origin:Hebrew namesHungarian names