Elihu
given name · Latin script
Meaning: As a tribal leader appointed by David, Elihu represents the importance of family and trusted administration within the establishment of the Israelite kingdom
Recorded as a male name· opposite-gender records fall within measured source noise
/ˈɛɫɪhu/(machine-generated) pronunciation, model-generated
Elihu is a given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the United States than in any other country.
- USUnited States1 in 491K(measured from records)
- GYGuyana1 in 375K
- NGNigeria≈1 in 381K
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). Where a country counts another spelling of the name rather than Elihu itself, the figure is that spelling’s, and it is named. One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- United States (measured from records)
- 2 (measured from records)
- Sources
- 177 (measured from records)
- 1 in 375K (inferred from the name graph)
678 people, 2020
recorded for this name
Highest-authority source
Guyana
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Spellings & scripts(measured from records)
Locally spelled אליהוא in IL Israel.
Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.
Meaning & origin(measured from records)
As a tribal leader appointed by David, Elihu represents the importance of family and trusted administration within the establishment of the Israelite kingdom. If identified with Eliab, his story also serves as a key biblical example that divine selection is based on inner character ('the heart') rather than outward appearance or birth order.
Sources 1
- Biblical Names Compiled Database
Where in the world(measured from records)
Elihu counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | 678 | 1 in 491K | 664 | Elihu | 177 |
| NG Nigeria | ≈560 est. | ≈1 in 381K | — | Elihu | 14 |
| ES Spain | 76 | 1 in 658K | 76 | — | 4 |
| GB United Kingdom | ≈70 est. | ≈1 in 942K | listed | Elihu | 19 |
| PE Peru | ≈69 est. | ≈1 in 465K | — | Elihu | 10 |
| IL Israel | ≈29 est. | ≈1 in 303K | 47 | אליהוא | 13 |
| GY Guyana | 2 | 1 in 375K | 2 | — | 1 |
678 people counted by Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex, 2020. Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; CBS Israel — Names given to babies (1949–present); the penguin-baby-names-2009 register; INE — Padrón per-token widgets (current living counts, given + apellidos); Guyana — Official List of Electors July 2025. Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses(measured from records)
Elihu is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
Elihu is a classic biblical name of Hebrew origin meaning "My God is He." In the Bible, Elihu is a wise young man who speaks with passion and conviction about God's righteousness. It's a unique and thoughtful name for a boy, suggesting faith, intelligence, and youthful insight.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
Elihu is a strong biblical name of Hebrew origin meaning "My God is He." A less common alternative is Eliab, meaning "God is father." Both names are associated with a brother of the famous King David, representing leadership and a deep connection to faith.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
Elihu is a biblical Hebrew name meaning 'My God is He.' The name is associated with several figures in the Bible, including a capable and strong man who served as a guardian of the temple.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
As a biblical name, Elihu means "My God is He" and is associated with faith and devotion. It is a less common alternative to similar names like Elijah or Eli.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
The name Elihu (אֱלִיהוּ) means "My God is He" in Hebrew. The name Eliab (אֱלִיאָב) means "God is father" or "My God is father".
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name(measured from records)
- Elihu Yaleb. 1649USWelsh merchant, slave trader and philanthropist (1649–1721)
- Elihu Adamsb. 1741USbrother of United States President John Adams (1741-1776)
- Elihu Burrittb. 1811USAmerican pacifist, philanthropist, pamphlet writer (1810-1879)
- Elihu B. Washburneb. 1816USAmerican politician and diplomat (1816–1887)
- Elihu Vedderb. 1836USAmerican artist (1836–1923)
- Elihu Rootb. 1845USAmerican politician (1845-1937)
- Elihu Thomsonb. 1853USAmerican inventor (1853–1937)
- Elihu Katzb. 1926USAmerican and Israeli sociologist (1926–2021)
- Elihu Lauterpachtb. 1928GBBritish academic and lawyer (1928–2017)
- Elihu Harrisb. 1947USAmerican politician
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
How to address them(machine-generated)
A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.
Evidence(measured from records)
Attested in 22 sources across 13 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 664 | #16,565 |
| ES Spain | INE — Padrón per-token widgets (current living counts, given + apellidos) | — | 76 | #19,606 |
| ES Spain | INE — Nombres más frecuentes (Padrón Municipal) | — | 73 | #9,419 |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1928 | 26 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2016 | 22 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2009 | 22 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1915 | 22 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1927 | 21 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1926 | 21 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1918 | 21 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2019 | 20 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1921 | 20 | — |
Reference works 2
- Dictionary of American Family Names
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the name Elihu mean, and where does it come from?
- As a tribal leader appointed by David, Elihu represents the importance of family and trusted administration within the establishment of the Israelite kingdom. Recorded by Biblical Names Compiled Database.
- Is Elihu a male or female name?
- Elihu is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.
- How do you pronounce Elihu?
- A machine transcription gives /ˈɛɫɪhu/ (IPA) for English.
- In which country does Elihu have the most bearers?
- In the United States, the national register counted about 678 people named Elihu, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled elihu.
- Where is Elihu most common?
- Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Elihu is densest in Guyana — about 1 in 375 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.
- How common is the name Elihu?
- In the United States, the national register counted 678 people named Elihu in 2020, about 1 in 491 thousand residents.
What do you want to know about Elihu?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/elihuThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Elihu”. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.