Explore the Family Name Elijah
The meaning of Elijah
Welsh, Jewish, and African American: from the personal name Elijah, the usual English transliteration in the King James Bible of the Hebrew name Eliyahu ‘Jehovah is God’, the name of an Old Testament prophet (compare Elias, Ellis). As a Welsh surname, this is a comparatively late adoption of the personal name, adopted after Old Testament personal names became popular among Nonconformists.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Elijah in the United States?
The Elijah surname has seen a modest increase in popularity based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, it ranked 26,761 with about 855 people carrying the surname. This proportion was approximately 0.32 per 100,000 people. By 2010, the Elijah surname had grown in popularity to rank 23,283, an increase of 13 percent. The count also rose to 1,094, a nearly 28 percent increase, representing roughly 0.37 per 100,000 people.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #26,761 | #23,283 | 13% |
| Count | 855 | 1,094 | 27.95% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.32 | 0.37 | 15.63% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Elijah
As for ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows diverse ethnic identities associated with the surname Elijah. The highest percentage in both 2000 and 2010 belonged to those identifying as Black, at 53.57 percent and 51.37 percent respectively. There was a significant increase in those identifying as Hispanic, from 1.75 percent in 2000 to 5.21 percent in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as White decreased by 10.75 percent over the same period. The Asian/Pacific Islander group saw an increase of 41.86 percent, while those identifying as two or more races almost doubled to 5.58 percent. The percentage of American Indian and Alaskan Native identifiers dipped slightly.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 53.57% | 51.37% | -4.11% |
| White | 39.53% | 35.28% | -10.75% |
| Two or More Races | 2.92% | 5.58% | 91.1% |
| Hispanic | 1.75% | 5.21% | 197.71% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 1.29% | 1.83% | 41.86% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.94% | 0.73% | -22.34% |