Eli (name)

Eli as a name has two different meanings, both originating in the Hebrew Bible.

Eli
PronunciationEnglish: /ˈiːlaɪ/
Hebrew: [ˈeli]
Danish: [ˈe̝ːli]
GenderMale
Language(s)Hebrew, English, Norwegian, Danish, Spanish
Origin
Word/nameBiblical עֵלִי
Meaningascent; my God
Other names
Related namesElijah, Elias, Elisha, Eliezer, Elimelech

Eli can be a male given name of Hebrew origin, from Biblical עֵלִי "ascent", spelled with the Hebrew letter ayin in the beginning, the name of Eli, the high priest in the Books of Samuel. It is identical to the Arabic name Ali (علي).[1] It came to be used as a given name among the Puritans in the 17th century and was by them taken to the American colonies.[2]

Eli may alternatively be an unrelated abbreviation of Hebrew names[3] such as Elijah, Elias, Elisha, Eliezer, Elimelech, etc., all containing the element אלי, meaning "my God" and spelled with the Hebrew letter aleph in the beginning. El is the name of a Semitic deity that is used in the Bible as a name for the god of the Israelites, and -i is the suffix for the genitive form ("mine").

In the United States, the popularity of the given name Eli was hovering around rank 200 in the 1880s. It declined gradually during the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries, falling below rank 700 in 1964. In a significant revival of the name's popularity in the early 1970s, it bounced back above rank 400 in 1976. Its popularity has continued to grow since then, entering the top 100 masculine given names in the 2000s, and ranking as the 64th most popular boys' name as of 2021.[4]

Eli is also a short form of names Elisabet, Elin, and Helena in Scandinavia,[5][6] unrelated to the masculine Hebrew name Eli.[7] The two names differ in pronunciation as well.

Hebrew given name

Biblical given name עֵלִי ("ascent")

Hebrew name אלי ("my God") or names of which that is a short form
  • Eli Amir (אלי עמיר born 1937), Israeli writer and peace activist
  • Eli Biham (אלי ביהם, born 1960), Israeli cryptographer
  • Eli M. Black (Elihu) (1921–1975), American businessman
  • Eli Cohen (footballer, born 1951), Israeli soccer player and manager
  • Eli Dershwitz (born 1995), 2023 World Saber Champion, 2015 Under-20 World Saber Champion, U.S. Olympic saber fencer
  • Eli Gorenstein (born 1952), Israeli actor, voice actor, singer and cellist
  • Eli Hurvitz (Elihu, 1932-2011), Israeli industrialist
  • Eli Manning (Elisha) (born 1981), American football player, 2-time super bowl MVP
  • Eli Morgan (born 1996), American baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Indians
  • Elie Munk (1900–1981), German-born French rabbi and rabbinic scholar
  • Eli Noam (born 1946), professor at Columbia University
  • Eli Ohana (אלי אוחנה, born 1964), Israeli football player and coach
  • Eli Ricks (born 2001), American football player
  • Eli Roth (born 1972), American film director
  • Eli Sherbatov (born 1991), Canadian-Israeli ice hockey player
  • Eli Wallach (1915–2014), movie actor
  • Elie Wiesel (אלי ויזל; Eliezer) (1928-2016), Romanian-born American human rights activist, Holocaust writer
  • Elihu Yale (1649–1721), benefactor of Yale University, also known as "Eli Yale"
  • Eli Yatzpan (born 1965), Israeli television host and comedian
  • Eli Yishai (אליהו "אלי" ישי, Eliyahu, born 1962), Israeli politician
  • Eli Zuckerman (born 1973), Israeli Olympic competitive sailor
  • Eli Wolf (born 1997), American football player

Fictional characters

Surname
  • Billy Eli (born 1962), American singer and songwriter
  • Look Tin Eli (1870-1919), Chinese-American businessman
  • Roger Eli (born 1965), English former footballer

Scandinavian given name

Eli in Scandinavia can also be written as Øli or Ellen.

Fictional characters

See also

References
  1. Withycombe, E. G. (1976) [1944]. The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names (3rd ed.). London: Omega Books. ISBN 1-85007-059-8.
  2. Royal Ralph Hinman,A catalogue of the names of the first Puritan settlers of the colony of Connecticut, 1846, p. 169 mentions one Eli Bush, born 1741. David Pickering, The Penguin Book of Baby Names, Penguin, 2009. See also babynamespedia.com.
  3. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Eli (2)". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  4. behindthename.com
  5. Eli – kvinnenavn, Store Norske Leksikon, visited 20 May 2009
  6. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Eli (3)". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  7. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Eli (1)". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
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