Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, Ilija, or Illia ( , or ; ; ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is

Yahu Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...

/ Jah." It comes from the

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

pronunciation of the vocative (Ilía) of the Greek

Elias Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated tradit ...

(Ηλίας, Ilías). It is pronounced with stress on the second syllable. The diminutive form is Iliusha or Iliushen'ka. The Russian

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

for a son of Ilya is " Ilyich", and a daughter is "Ilyinichna".

People with the name

Real people

* Ilya (Archbishop of Novgorod), 12th-century Russian Orthodox cleric and saint * Ilya Ivanovitch Alekseyev (1772–1830), commander of the Russian Imperial Army *

Ilya Borok Ilya Grigorievich Borok (, born 10 August 1993) is a Russian jiujitsu fighter. Borok has won tournaments in jiujitsu, including the World Championships, the World Games, the World Combat Games and the European Championships. References Ext ...

(born 1993), Russian jiujitsu fighter * Ilya Bryzgalov (born 1980), Russian ice hockey goalie * Ilya Dzhirkvelov (1927–2006), author and KGB defector *

Ilya Ehrenburg Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (, ; – August 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer, revolutionary, journalist and historian. Ehrenburg was among the most prolific and notable authors of the Soviet Union; he published around one hundred titles. He becam ...

(1891–1967), Russian writer and Soviet cultural ambassador *

Ilya Frank Ilya Mikhailovich Frank (; 23 October 1908 – 22 June 1990) was a Soviet physicist who received the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Igor Y. Tamm, also of the Soviet Union. He received the award for h ...

(1908–1990), Russian physicist *

Ilya Glazunov Ilya Sergeyevich Glazunov (; 10 June 1930 – 9 July 2017) was a Soviet and Russian artist from Saint Petersburg. He was the founder of the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where he also served as a rector up until his de ...

(1930–2017), Russian painter *

Ilya Gringolts Ilya Gringolts () born 2 July 1982 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) is a violinist and educator. Gringolts studied violin in St. Petersburg with Tatiana Liberova and Jeanna Metallidi. He then attended the Juilliard School, and studied violin w ...

(born 1982), violinist *

Ilya Grubert Ilya Haimovich Grubert (, ; born 13 May 1954 in Riga) is a classical violinist and professor. Biography Ilya Grubert began his violin studies at the Emīls Dārziņš Music School. He later studied at the Moscow Central Music School and the Mo ...

(born 1954), violinist *

Ilya Ilf Ilya Arnoldovich Ilf (born Iehiel-Leyb Aryevich Faynzilberg; ; – 13 April 1937) was a Soviet journalist and writer of Jewish origin who usually worked in collaboration with Yevgeny Petrov during the 1920s and 1930s. Their duo was known simp ...

(1897–1937), Russian author of ''Twelve Chairs'' and the ''Golden Calf'' *

Ilya Ilyin Ilya Aleksandrovich Ilyin (; born 24 May 1988) is a retired Kazakhstani weightlifter who won four world championships and was regarded as one of the greatest weightlifters of all time, until banned for doping abuse in both 2008 and 2012 Olympic ...

(born 1988), Kazakhstani Olympic weightlifter *

Ilya Ivashka Ilya Uladzimiravich Ivashka (; ; born 24 February 1994) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Ivashka has a career-high singles ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) of No. 40, achieved on 20 June 2022. He also has a car ...

(born 1994), Belarusian tennis player *

Ilya Kabakov Ilya Iosifovich Kabakov (Ukrainian: Ілля Йосипович Кабаков; Russian: Илья́ Ио́сифович Кабако́в; September 30, 1933 – May 27, 2023) was an American and Soviet conceptual artist, born in Dnipropetr ...

(1933–2023), Russian-American conceptual artist of Jewish origin *

Ilya Kaler Ilya Kaler (born June 2, 1963) is a Russian-born violinist. Born and educated in Moscow, Kaler is the only person to have won Gold Medals at all three of the International Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1986); the Sibelius (Helsinki, 1985); a ...

(born 1963), violinist *

Ilya Kaminsky Ilya Kaminsky (born April 18, 1977) is a poet, critic, translator and professor. He is best known for his poetry collections ''Dancing in Odesa'' and ''Deaf Republic'', which have earned him several awards. In 2019, the BBC named Kaminsky among " ...

(born 1977), Ukrainian-American-Jewish poet * Ilya Kharun (born 2005), Canadian swimmer *

Ilya Kovalchuk Ilya Valeryevich Kovalchuk (; born 15 April 1983) is a Russian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), winger. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals in ...

(born 1983), Russian ice hockey winger in the KHL, formerly for the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, L.A. Kings and Washington Capitals of the NHL * Ilya Kuvshinov (born 1990), Russian animator * Ilya Lagutenko (born 1968), lead singer of the Russian rock band Mumiy Troll * Ilya Lobanov (born 1996), Kazakhstani ice hockey player *

Ilia Malinin Ilia Malinin (born December 2, 2004) is an American competitive figure skater. He is a two-time World champion (2024 World Figure Skating Championships, 2024 & 2025 World Figure Skating Championships, 2025), two-time Grand Prix of Figure Skating ...

(born 2004), American figure skater, first person to land a quadruple axel * Ilya Espino de Marotta, Marine engineer and leader of the Panama Canal Expansion Project * Ilya Mechnikov (1845–1916), Russian Nobel Prize-winning microbiologist * Ilya Oberyshyn (1921-2007), Ukrainian insurgent * Ilya Osipov (born 2005), nicknamed "m0NESY", Russian professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for Team Falcons * Ilya Petrov (born 1995), Russian footballer * Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro (1929–2009), Russian-Jewish-Israeli mathematician *

Ilya Prigogine Viscount Ilya Romanovich Prigogine (; ; 28 May 2003) was a Belgian physical chemist of Russian-Jewish origin, noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility. Prigogine's work most notably earned him the 19 ...

(1917–2003), physical chemist and Nobel Prize-winning physicist * Ilya Prusikin (born 1985), Russian musician, singer, record producer, vlogger, video director and screenwriter *

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russian Empire, Russia in the 19th century. His major works include ''Barge Haulers on the Volga' ...

(1844–1930), Russian painter * Ilya Salkind (born 1947), movie producer * Ilya Salmanzadeh (born 1986), Persian-Swedish music producer * Ilya Samsonov (born 1997), a Russian goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs, formerly Washington Capitals * Ilya Serov (born 1986), Russian-American trumpeter and singer *

Ilya Sorokin Ilya Igorevich Sorokin (; born 4 August 1995) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Sorokin was selected by the Islanders in the third round (78th overall) of the 2014 NH ...

(born 1995), a Russian goaltender for the New York Islanders *

Ilya Strebulaev Ilya A. Strebulaev (born May 17, 1975) is a Russian- American financial economist, researcher, author, and speaker with expertise in venture capital, startups, and corporate innovation. He has been a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of ...

, Russian-American financial economist *

Ilya Sutskever Ilya Sutskever (; born 8 December 1986) is an Israeli-Canadian computer scientist who specializes in machine learning. He has made several major contributions to the field of deep learning. With Alex Krizhevsky and Geoffrey Hinton, he co-inv ...

, computer scientist, co-founder and former chief scientist of OpenAI * Ilia Topuria (born 1997), Spanish-Georgian mixed martial artist * Ilya Tsipursky (1934–2022), Soviet judoka and sambist * Ilya Ulyanov (1831–1886), father of Soviet revolutionary Vladimir Lenin * Ilya Yashin (born 1983), Russian political figure * Ilya Zhitomirskiy (1989–2011), Russian-American founder of Diaspora

Religious figures

Ilya Muromets Ilya Muromets or Murometz, also known as Ilya of Murom, is a ''bogatyr'' (hero) in a type of Russian oral literature , oral epic poem called ''bylina'' set during the time of the Kievan Rus'. He is often featured alongside fellow bogatyrs Dobry ...

, Orthodox monastic saint, Russian folk hero *

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

, a Hebrew prophet of the ninth century BCE, known in Russian as Iliya the Prophet (''Илия́ Проро́к'') *

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

or Eli (Arabic name), a cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the first Imam of shiahs. (There is a quote from Imam Ali "I am called Elya / Alya among Jews, Elia among Christians, Ali for my father, and Haydar for my mother".)Allameh Amini, ''Alghadir'', Vol. 7, p. 78.

Fictional characters

Illya Kuryakin Illya Kuryakin (Russian: Илья Курякин) is a fictional character from the 1960s TV spy series, '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' He is a secret agent with a range of weapons and explosives skills, and is described in the series as holding a ...

, a main character in the TV show ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' * Ilya Pasternak, fictional character from the video game ''Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation'' * Ilya Tretiak, a character in the 1997 film ''The Saint'' *Ilya in the book '' Letters from Rifka'' *Ilya, a character in the book and film adaption '' Heaven Knows What'' *Ilya Afanasyevich Shamrayev, a character in Anton Chekhov's ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' *Ilya Stepanovich Igolkin, a character in Vladimir Obruchev's '' Plutonia'' *Ilya (Ilyusha) Snegiryov, a character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's ''

The Brothers Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' ( rus, Братья Карамазовы, Brat'ya Karamazovy, ˈbratʲjə kərɐˈmazəvɨ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly ...

'' * Illyasviel von Einzbern, a character in ''Fate'' series by Type-Moon

Music

* Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas

References