Eli as a name has two different meanings, both originating in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
.
Eli can be a male given name of
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
origin, from Biblical "ascent", spelled with the Hebrew letter '' ayin'' in the beginning, the name of
Eli
Eli most commonly refers to:
* Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname
* Eli (biblical figure)
Eli or ELI may also refer to:
Film
* ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film
* ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film
Music
* ''Eli'' (Jan ...
, the
high priest
The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste.
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...
in the
Books of Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshu ...
. It is identical to the Arabic name
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
(علي).
It came to be used as a given name among the
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
in the 17th century and was by them taken to the
American colonies
The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...
.
Eli may alternatively be an unrelated abbreviation of Hebrew names such as
Elijah, Elias,
Elisha
Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...
,
Eliezer
Eliezer (, "Help/Court of El") was the name of at least three different individuals in the Bible.
Eliezer of Damascus
Eliezer of Damascus () was, according to the Targums, the son of Nimrod. Eliezer was head of the patriarch Abraham's househo ...
, Elimelech, etc., all containing the element , meaning "my God" and spelled with the Hebrew letter ''
aleph
Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez .
These letter ...
'' 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
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
, and -i is the
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
for the
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
form ("mine").
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, 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.
Eli is also a short form of names Elisabet, Elin, and Helena in Scandinavia, unrelated to the masculine Hebrew name Eli. The two names differ in pronunciation as well.
Hebrew given name
Biblical given name עֵלִי ("ascent")
*
Eli Abaev
Eli Abaev (Hebrew: אלי אבייב; born December 13, 1998) is an American-Israeli basketball player who last played for Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, at the power forward and center positions. He played college ...
(born 1998), American-Israeli basketball player for
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The cl ...
in the
Israeli Basketball Premier League
Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...
*
Eli Bebout
Eli Daniel Bebout (born October 14, 1946) is an American athlete and politician who served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from a multi-member district in Fremont County and the 55th district from 1987 to 2001, and later served in the ...
(born 1946), Wyoming politician
*
Eli Beeding Eli Lackland Beeding Jr. (December 17, 1928 – December 21, 2013) was a U.S. Air Force captain and rocket test subject. In 1958, a series experiments using a miniature rocket sled began at Holloman AFB under the supervision of Colonel John Stapp an ...
(1928-2013), US Air Force captain and rocket test subject
*
Eli Whitney Blake
Eli Whitney Blake, Sr. (January 27, 1795 – August 18, 1886) was an American inventor, best known for his mortise lock and stone-crushing machine, the latter of which earned him a place into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Early life
Blak ...
(1795–1886), American inventor
*
Eli Whitney Blake Jr.
Eli Whitney Blake Jr. (April 20, 1836 – October 1, 1895) was an American scientist. His father and namesake was an inventor and partner of the Blake Brothers manufacturing firm. The origin of the name Eli Whitney comes from Blake senior's uncl ...
(1836–1895), American scientist
*
Eli Broad
Eli Broad ( ; June 6, 1933April 30, 2021) was an American businessman and philanthropist. In June 2019, ''Forbes'' ranked him as the 233rd-wealthiest person in the world and the 78th-wealthiest in the United States, with an estimated net worth of ...
(1933–2021), American billionaire, philanthropist, art collector
* Eli Metcalfe Bruce (1828–1866), philanthropist, financier and politician from Kentucky
*
Eli Franklin Burton
Eli Franklin Burton, (February 14, 1879 – July 6, 1948) was a Canadian physicist.
Burton was born in Green River, township of Pickering, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1901. From 1904 to 1906 he studied ...
(1879–1948), Canadian physicist
* Eli Giannini (born 1956), female Australian architect and director of MGS Architects in Melbourne
* Eli Heckscher (1879–1952), Swedish economist
*
Eli Jones Henkle
Eli Jones Henkle (November 24, 1828 – November 1, 1893) was a U.S. Congressman from the fifth district of Maryland, serving three terms from 1875 to 1881.
Henkle was born in Westminster, Maryland, and completed an academic course. He taugh ...
(1825–1893), U.S. Congressman from Maryland
* Eli H. Janney (1831–1912), engineer, Confederate soldier
* Eli Langer (born 1967), Canadian artist
* Eli Lilly (1838–1898), American soldier, pharmaceutical chemist, and industrialist, founder of Eli Lilly and Company
* Eli Lilly (industrialist) (1885–1977), American industrialist, grandson of the Colonel
* Eli Long (1837–1903), General in the Union Army in the American Civil War
*
Eli M. Oboler
Eli Martin Oboler (September 26, 1915 – June 15, 1983) was an American librarian who worked as the longtime librarian at the Idaho State University library, later renamed the Eli M. Oboler Library, from 1949 to 1980. He was also a member of th ...
(1915–1983), librarian, Idaho State University and writer
*
Eli Mohar
Eli Mohar ( he, עלי מוהר; December 30, 1948 – November 30, 2006) was an Israeli songwriter and columnist.
Biography
Eli Mohar was born in Tel Aviv. His father was Yechiel Mohar. He was a member of HaMahanot HaOlim youth movement and stu ...
(1948–2006), Israeli songwriter and columnist
* Eli Thomas Reich (1913–1999), US vice admiral
*
Eli Salzberger
Eli Mordechai Salzberger (Hebrew: עלי זלצברגר; born 12 March 1960), is a Law Professor at the University of Haifa Faculty of Law and former Dean of the faculty. From 2008 to 2011, he served as President of the European Association for ...
(born 1960), Israeli legal scholar
*
Eli M. Saulsbury
Eli May Saulsbury (December 29, 1817 – March 22, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as U.S. Senator from Del ...
(1817–1893), U.S. Senator from Delaware
* Eli Schenkel (born 1992), Canadian Olympic fencer
*
Eli C. D. Shortridge
Eli C. D. Shortridge (March 29, 1830 – February 4, 1908) was an American politician who was the third Governor of North Dakota from 1893 to 1895. Shortridge was the first governor to live in the executive mansion.
Biography
Born Eli Charles ...
(1830–1908), Governor of North Dakota
*
Eli Siegel
Eli Siegel (August 16, 1902 – November 8, 1978) was a poet, critic, and educator. He founded Aesthetic Realism, a philosophical movement based in New York City. An idea central to Aesthetic Realism—that every person, place or thing in reality ...
(1902–1978), Latvian-American poet, critic and philosopher
* Eli Snyman (born 1996), Zimbabwe-born South African rugby union player
*
Eli Soriano
Eliseo "Eli" Fernando Soriano (; April 4, 1947 – February 10, 2021) was a Filipino preacher and televangelist. He was the "Overall Servant" ( Tagalog: ''Lingkod Pangkalahatan,'' formerly called "Presiding Minister") of the Members Church of ...
(1947-2021), televangelist from the Philippines
* Eli Todd Tappan (1824–1888), American educator, mathematician, author, lawyer and newspaper editor
* Eli Terry (1772–1852), inventor and clockmaker in Connecticut
*
Eli Thayer
Eli Thayer (June 11, 1819 – April 15, 1899) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. He was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in 1 ...
(1819–1899), member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts
*
Eli Todd
Dr. Eli Todd (July 22, 1769 – November 17, 1833) was a
(1769–1833), pioneer in the treatment of the mentally ill in Connecticut
*
Eli Velder
Eli Yehill Velder (November 9, 1925 – April 6, 2020) was an American academic. He held the endowed Dean Van Meter Alumnae Professorship of history and philosophy of education at Goucher College. Velder founded the education program at Gou ...
(1925–2020), American academic
* Eli Walker (born 1992), Welsh rugby union player
* Eli L. Whiteley (1913–1986), American awarded the Medal of Honor
*
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South.
Although Whitney hi ...
(1765–1825), American inventor of the cotton gin
*
Eli Erlick
Eli Erlick (born July 10, 1995) is an American activist, writer, academic, trans woman and founder of the organization Trans Student Educational Resources.
Early life
Eli Erlick was born on July 10, 1995. Her parents met while protesting, whic ...
(born 1995), American activist
Hebrew name אלי ("my God") or names of which that is a short form
Eli Amir
Eli Amir ( he, אלי עמיר; Arabic:ايلى عمير) (September 26, 1937) is an Iraqi-born Israeli writer and civil servant. He served as director general of the Youth Aliyah Department of the Jewish Agency.
Biography
Amir was born Fuad Elia ...
( born 1937), Israeli writer and peace activist
*
Eli Biham
Eli Biham ( he, אלי ביהם) is an Israeli cryptographer and cryptanalyst, currently a professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Computer Science department. Starting from October 2008 and till 2013, Biham was the dean of t ...
(, born 1960), Israeli cryptographer
*
Eli M. Black
Eli M. Black (April 9, 1921 – February 3, 1975) was an American businessman. He controlled the United Brands Company. His son Leon Black is a founding member of private equity firm Apollo Management.
Early life and education
Born Elihu Menash ...
(Elihu) (1921–1975), American businessman
*
Eli Cohen (footballer, born 1951)
Eli Cohen ( he, אלי כהן), nickname: "The Sheriff" ( he, השריף), born 3 January 1951) is a former Israeli football player and manager.
Soccer career
Between 1968 and 1986 he was a player with Maccabi Ramat Amidar and Shimshon ...
, Israeli soccer player and manager
*
Eli Dershwitz
Eli Dershwitz (born September 23, 1995) is an American left-handed sabre fencer, four-time individual Pan American champion, and two-time Olympian.
In 2014, Dershwitz won the US Men's Saber National Championship, becoming the youngest US senio ...
(born 1995), Under-20 World Saber Champion, U.S. Olympic saber fencer
* Eli Gorenstein (born 1952), Israeli actor, voice actor, singer and cellist
*
Eli Hurvitz
Eli Hurvitz ( he, אליהו "אלי" הורביץ, born 1932, died 21 November 2011) was an Israeli industrialist. He was the chairman of the board and former CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries at the time of his death.
Biography
Eliyahu (El ...
(Elihu, 1932-2011), Israeli industrialist
*
Eli Manning
Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...
(Elisha) (born 1981), American football player, 2-time super bowl MVP
*
Eli Morgan
Elijah Allan Morgan (born May 13, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Morgan was selected by the Indians in the eigh ...
(born 1996), American baseball pitcher for the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
*
Elie Munk
Elie Munk (1900–1981), was a German-born French rabbi and rabbinic scholar, "a scion of a long and distinguished line of German rabbis and scholars".
A number of other Jewish scholars have similar names. ''Eliyahu Munk'' translated numerous Jew ...
(1900–1981), German-born French rabbi and rabbinic scholar
*
Eli Noam
Eli M. Noam (born August 22, 1946 in Jerusalem) is a professor of Finance and Economics at the Columbia Business School, and holds the Paul Garrett Chair in Public Policy and Business Responsibility. He is the director of the Columbia Institute fo ...
(born 1946), professor at Columbia University
*
Eli Ohana
Eliyahu "Eli" Ohana ( he, אלי אוחנה; born ) is an Israeli former football player and the former chairman of Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem. He played as forward or midfielder for Beitar Jerusalem, KV Mechelen, S.C. Braga, and the Is ...
(, born 1964), Israeli football player and coach
* Eli Roth (born 1972), American film director
* Eli Sherbatov (born 1991), Canadian-Israeli ice hockey player
* Eli Wallach (1915–2014), movie actor
*
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...
(אלי ויזל; Eliezer) (1928-2016), human rights activist, Holocaust writer
* Elihu Yale (1649–1721), benefactor of Yale University, also known as "Eli Yale"
*
Eli Yatzpan
Eliyahu Yatzpan ( he, אלי יצפאן; born June 6, 1965) is an Israeli television host and comedian, best known as the host of the Channel 3 late-night talk show/variety show ''Yatzpan'' between 2001 and 2006.
Biography
Early life
Yatzpan w ...
(born 1965), Israeli television host and comedian
* Eli Yishai (, Eliyahu, born 1962), Israeli politician
* Eli Zuckerman (born 1973), Israeli Olympic competitive sailor
*
Eli Wolf
Elijah Jackson Wolf (born March 11, 1997) is a former American football tight end who played in the National Football League. He played college football at Georgia and Tennessee.
High school
Wolf attended Minster High School in Minster, Ohio. W ...
The Book of Eli
''The Book of Eli'' is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic neo-Western action film directed by the Hughes Brothers, written by Gary Whitta, and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, and Jennifer Beals. The story rev ...
''
* Eli Clark, a survivor in the video game ''
Identity V
''Identity V'' is a free-to-play asymmetrical multiplayer survival horror game developed and published by Chinese company NetEase. It was released in July 2018 for mobile devices. It is available on the iOS App Store, Android Google Play Stor ...
''
* Eli Dingle, on the British soap ''Emmerdale''
*Eli Ever, in '' Vicious'' and ''Vengeful'' by
V.E. Schwab
Victoria Elizabeth (V. E.) Schwab (born July 7, 1987) is an American writer. She is known for the 2013 novel '' Vicious'', the '' Shades of Magic'' series, and ''The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue'', which was nominated for the 2020 Locus Award fo ...
* Eli Gold, on '' The Good Wife''
* Eli Loker, on '' Lie to Me''
* Eli Mills, from the film '' Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom''
* Eli Stone, title character of the American show '' Eli Stone''
* Elias "Eli" Thompson, on the American television series ''
Boardwalk Empire
''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...
''
* Eli Vance, in the ''Half-Life'' video games
*
Eli Wallace
This is a list of characters in ''Stargate Universe'', an American-Canadian military science fiction serial drama which made its premiere on October 2, 2009, on the Syfy channel.
Main characters
Nicholas Rush
Nicholas Rush (portrayed by R ...
, on ''Stargate Universe''
*
Eli Vanto
''Star Wars: Thrawn'' (also known simply as ''Thrawn'') is a ''Star Wars'' novel by Timothy Zahn, published on April 11, 2017 by Del Rey Books. It chronicles the origins of Grand Admiral Thrawn, a popular character originating from the '' Star Wa ...
, in the ''
Thrawn
Grand Admiral Thrawn (full name: Mitth'raw'nuruodo) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is notable for appearing as the eponymous character in the ''Thrawn'' trilogy of novels (1991–1993) by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn is an i ...
'' novels
* Eli Gemstone, on
The Righteous Gemstones
''The Righteous Gemstones'' is an American television series created by Danny McBride that premiered on August 18, 2019, on HBO. The series follows a famous and dysfunctional family of televangelists. It stars McBride, John Goodman, Edi Patterson ...
Oil!
''Oil!'' is a novel by Upton Sinclair, first published in 1926–27 and told as a third-person narrative, with only the opening pages written in the first person. The book was written in the context of the Harding administration's Teapot Dome Sca ...
The Royal Tenenbaums
''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson. It stars Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Owen Wilson. ...
''
* Eli Shane, in ''
Slugterra
''Slugterra'' is an animated television series created by Asaph Fipke. The series was produced by the Canadian animation studio Nerd Corps Entertainment, a subsidiary of DHX Media (now WildBrain). It premiered on Disney XD Canada on September 3 ...
''
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.
*
Eli Arnstad
Eli Arnstad (born 4 May 1962) is a Norwegian civil servant, sports official and politician for the Centre Party.
Early life and career
She was born in Stjørdal as a daughter of accountant and farmer Arne Arnstad (1932–1980) and nurse Aasta Ar ...
(born 1962), Norwegian civil servant and politician
* Eli Fischer-Jørgensen (1911-2010), Danish professor and member of the Danish resistance movement
* Eli Kristiansen (born 1933), Norwegian politician
*
Eli Rygg
Eli Rygg (born 22 September 1955) is a Norwegian television personality and children's writer.
She grew up in Veblungsnes and moved to Levanger at the age of 12. She attended folk high school in Skogn and Inderøy. She had a daughter as a teena ...
(born 1955), Norwegian television personality
* Eli Skolmen Ryg (born 1936), Norwegian television producer
* Eli Sollied Øveraas (born 1949), Norwegian politician
Fictional characters
*
Eli Ayase
is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by ASCII Media Works' ''Dengeki G's Magazine'', music label Lantis, and animation studio Sunrise. It is the first multimedia project in the ''Love Live!'' franchise. The project revolves ar ...
, from the anime ''Love Live!''
* Eli James, a character from the ''Ghost Whisperer''
*
Ely Ely or ELY may refer to:
Places Ireland
* Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely
* Ely Place, Dublin, a street
United Kingdom
* Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England
** Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formal ...