Elias · Daily fortune

Elias is a masculine name and, in Behind the Name's words, a "form of Elijah used in several languages". It is the Hellenized spelling of the Hebrew name ʾEliyyahu, meaning "my God is Yahweh", from ʾel and yah, two words for the God of Israel. Elias is the form found in the Greek New Testament and in some English Bible translations, and it is the everyday form of the prophet's name in Portuguese, German, Dutch, Greek, Amharic and the Scandinavian languages. In English it has long lived beside Elijah as the more continental-sounding twin. It ranked #13 for boys in the United States in 2025, six places behind Elijah at #7.

Behind the Name lists Elias with the roots ʾel + Yahweh and defines it as a form of Elijah "used in several languages", adding that it is "the form used in the Greek New Testament, as well as some English translations". Wikipedia describes Elias as "the hellenized version for the name of Elijah" from Ancient Greek Ἠλίας, with the Hebrew original אֵלִיָּהוּ (ʾĒlīyyāhū). The meaning therefore comes from Elijah: Behind the Name's Elijah entry gives "my God is Yahweh", from the roots ʾel and yah, both referring to the Hebrew God. The sources agree; the only difference between Elias and Elijah is the route the name took, Greek and Latin versus Hebrew and English.

The name belongs to the prophet Elijah, who, in Wikipedia's summary, was "a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books". Behind the Name's Elijah entry tells the story: he confronted King Ahab and Queen Jezebel over their idolatry of Ba'al, was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was succeeded by Elisha; in the New Testament he appears beside Moses at the Transfiguration, and there the Greek text spells his name Elias. The same entry explains how Elias became the European form: because Elijah was a popular figure in medieval tales and because a few early saints bore the name, "who are usually known by the Latin form Elias", the name came into general use in the Middle Ages, spelled Elis in medieval England. Wikipedia attributes the name's spread across many languages to "Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated traditions". Notable modern bearers include Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, the Finnish philologist Elias Lönnrot, and the writer Elias Canetti.

Elias ranked #13 for boys in the United States in 2025 (Social Security Administration), while its Hebrew-English twin Elijah ranked #7 in the same file. Neither Behind the Name's Elias entry nor the Wikipedia article gives ranking data for this spelling in other countries, though Behind the Name lists it as a current name in Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Greek and Amharic as well as English.

English Elias is /ɪ.ˈlaɪ.əs/ (i-LIE-əs), three syllables with a long 'i' in the middle; Behind the Name also records /i.ˈlaɪ.əs/. Continental pronunciations keep the 'ee' vowel: Behind the Name gives German /e.ˈliː.as/, Finnish /ˈe.li.ɑs/ and Dutch /ˈeː.li.ɑs/, so the same spelling sounds quite different in Berlin or Helsinki than in Chicago. Forms marked below are from the Behind the Name IPA list; the remaining pronunciations were not verified in this pass.

Elias offers the substance of Elijah with a lighter, more European finish: the same prophet, the same nickname Eli, but an ending in -as that puts it beside Lucas, Silas, Tobias and Matthias rather than beside Isaiah and Josiah. It is one of the few names that is simultaneously current in the United States, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Greece under the same spelling, which appeals to families with ties across those countries. Its chief practical wrinkle is pronunciation: an English speaker says i-LIE-əs, a German or Finn says something closer to eh-LEE-as, and both are correct.

Beyond the prophet, the name's bearers cluster in invention, scholarship and Lebanese politics. The bearers below are only those named in the Behind the Name and Wikipedia entries consulted for this profile.

Names that share Elias's -as ending and pan-European feel, its biblical Greek route, or its sound.