MEANING & HISTORY
What does Elias mean?
Elias is the Greek and Latin biblical form of Elijah. The underlying Hebrew name Eliyyahu is conventionally understood as my God is Yahweh.
It is associated with the prophet Elijah in the Hebrew Bible and later Christian texts. Elias is therefore not merely a longer spelling of Eli with an added meaningless ending; it preserves the transmitted form of the full Elijah name.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ɪˈlaɪ̯.əs/weak vowel distinction
- [ɪˈlaɪ̯.əs]weak vowel distinction
- /əˈlaɪ̯.əs/weak vowel merger
- [əˈlaɪ̯.əs]weak vowel merger
- /ˈɛ.li.ɐs/Philippines
E · li · as3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
The New Testament form of Elijah, a Hebrew prophet, from Ancient Greek Ἠλίας (Ēlías).
A male given name from Hebrew.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Elias
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Elias Bulut, Jr.
Filipino politician
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Elias Recaido
Filipino boxer
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
14
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
4
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Elias Bulut, Jr., Elias Recaido
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Elias in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Elias
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Elías♂Spanish form of Elias; my God is Yahweh
- Eliaz·Elias variant: my God is Yahweh
- Elifas·My God is victorious, in a scholarly analysis
- Elam·Hebrew name with hidden and eternity proposals
- Elan·Hebrew Elon variant: oak tree
- Elda♀Battle, through the Hilda name family
- Eli·Ascension in the biblical Hebrew-name account
- Eliana♀My God has answered in the Hebrew tradition
What rhymes with Elias?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Recorded combinations with Elias
2 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
- Madid Elias·Source record
- Ruy Elias·Ruy: medieval Portuguese and Spanish Rodrigo short form; Elias: Elijah form with Hebrew my God is Yahweh background
Explore Elias further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q11878157 — Elias (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Elias Bulut, Jr. (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q11878157 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Elias Recaido (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q11878157 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Elias (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Elias (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.
- Wiktionary: Elijah (English) (opens in a new tab)
Consulted source-name history underlying the compound, root or short form.