How popular is the baby name Elijah in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Elijah.

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Popularity of the baby name Elijah


Posts that mention the name Elijah

What gave the baby name Yoel a boost in 1979?

Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum (1888-1979)
Yoel Teitelbaum

According to the U.S. baby name data, the Hebrew name Yoel was one of the fastest-rising baby names in the nation in 1979. A year later, the name — which was mostly being used in the state of New York — entered the boys’ top 1,000 for the very first time.

Boys named Yoel (U.S.)Boys named Yoel (NY)
198199 [rank: 898th]91 [rank: 180th]
1980127 [rank: 779th]120 [rank: 141st]
19797569 [rank: 228th]
1978129 [rank: 820th]
19778.

Yoel’s English equivalent, Joel, also made gains in 1979 and 1980. Again, the increase was largely attributable to usage in New York.

Boys named Joel (U.S.)Boys named Joel (NY)
19814,540 [rank: 65th]529 [rank: 45th]
19804,566 [rank: 67th]614 [rank: 41st]
19794,215 [rank: 71st]401 [rank: 53rd]
19783,809 [rank: 74th]214 [rank: 81st]
19773,823 [rank: 73rd]209 [rank: 80th]

So what was inspiring parents (particularly those in New York) to use the name?

The death of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum in August of 1979.

Teitelbaum — whose first name was often transcribed “Joel” — had been the leader of the New York City-based Satmar Hasidic sect since the 1940s.

Teitelbaum was born in Eastern Europe in 1887. In the mid-1930s, he was appointed chief rabbi of the town of Szatmár (which was traded between Hungary and Romania during the first half of the 20th century).

After World War II, Teitelbaum emigrated to the United States and re-established the Satmar sect in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The sect was ultra-conservative, isolationist, and anti-Zionist. It grew steadily over the ensuing decades.

In the mid-1970s, the Satmars established a village called Kiryas Joel (“City of Joel”) about 50 miles to the north (i.e., away from the temptations of the city). A few years later, Yoel Teitelbaum’s funeral — which was attended by tens of thousands of people — was held in the village that bore his name.

Speaking of his name, it comprises two elements, the first of which refers to Yahweh and the second of which means “god.” (Fun fact: The name Elijah is essentially made up of the same two elements, but in reverse order.)

What are your thoughts on the name Yoel? How about Joel?

P.S. The 1994 death of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the leader of another New York City-based Hasidic group, also influenced U.S. baby names…

Sources:

Image: Joel Teitelbaum (public domain)

Popular baby names in Colorado, 1997

Flag of Colorado
Flag of Colorado

Back in 1997, the western U.S. state of Colorado welcomed 56,505 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Hannah and Jacob, according to data from the Health Statistics Section of Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment.

The state also revealed the top names within each of its three largest racial/ethnic groups, which it defined as “White/non-Hispanic,” “White/Hispanic,” and “Black.”

Number of babiesTop girl nameTop boy name
White/non-Hispanic38,729 (69%)HannahJacob
White/Hispanic12,951 (23%)JessicaJose
Black2,582 (5%)JasmineIsaiah

Here are Colorado’s top 50 girl names (overall) and top 50 boy names (overall) of 1997:

Girl names

  1. Hannah
  2. Emily
  3. Jessica
  4. Sarah
  5. Madison
  6. Samantha
  7. Taylor
  8. Alexandra
  9. Ashley
  10. Megan
  11. Elizabeth
  12. Rachel
  13. Alyssa
  14. Alexis
  15. Lauren
  16. Emma
  17. Kayla
  18. Morgan
  19. Amanda
  20. Brianna
  21. Jennifer
  22. Jordan
  23. Abigail
  24. Victoria
  25. Nicole
  26. Brittany
  27. Rebecca
  28. Danielle
  29. Katherine
  30. Sierra
  31. Anna
  32. Mariah
  33. Olivia
  34. Amber
  35. Sydney
  36. Stephanie
  37. Jasmine
  38. Brooke
  39. Haley
  40. Maria
  41. Kaitlyn
  42. Gabrielle
  43. Savannah
  44. Allison
  45. Marissa
  46. Bailey
  47. Courtney
  48. Sara
  49. Erin
  50. Mackenzie

Boy names

  1. Jacob
  2. Michael
  3. Matthew
  4. Joshua
  5. Austin
  6. Tyler
  7. Andrew
  8. Christopher
  9. Nicholas
  10. Brandon
  11. Daniel
  12. Ryan
  13. Joseph
  14. Zachary
  15. David
  16. Alexander
  17. Anthony
  18. John
  19. James
  20. Benjamin
  21. Kyle
  22. Samuel
  23. William
  24. Justin
  25. Jonathan
  26. Dylan
  27. Christian
  28. Jordan
  29. Cody
  30. Robert
  31. Nathan
  32. Aaron
  33. Thomas
  34. Eric
  35. Connor
  36. Cameron
  37. Jose
  38. Noah
  39. Adam
  40. Logan
  41. Isaiah
  42. Sean
  43. Gabriel
  44. Caleb
  45. Jack
  46. Cole
  47. Kevin
  48. Trevor
  49. Ethan
  50. Ian

How do these rankings stack up against the U.S. Social Security Administration’s 1997 rankings for Colorado?

The boy names look similar, but there are two significant discrepancies among the girl names: Alexandra ranked 11 spots lower (19th vs. 8th) and Gabrielle ranked 33 spots lower (75th vs. 42nd) on the federal government’s list.

Other names bestowed in Colorado in 1997 included “Elway, Jamaica, and Mars for baby boys, and October, November, Paradise, and Rejoice for baby girls.”

Elway was no doubt inspired by John Elway, the longtime Denver Broncos quarterback who was about to lead the team to its first Super Bowl victory (in January of 1998).

Speaking of Colorado baby names with historical significance…here are posts about Denver (b. 1859), Colorado (b. 1859), Salida (b. 1881), and Silver Dollar (b. 1889).

Update, Nov. 2025: I recently stumbled upon a newspaper article that listed the top 10 names per gender among Colorado’s Hispanic and Black babies of 1997.

These were the top 10 girl names and 10 boy names among Colorado’s Hispanic babies:

Girl names, HispanicBoy names, Hispanic
1. Jessica
2. Maria
3. Jennifer
4. Jasmine
5. Alexis
6. Alyssa
7. Mariah
8. Alexandra
9. Angelica
10. Stephanie		1. Jose
2. Luis
3. Jesus
4. Daniel
5. Juan
6. David
7. Carlos
8. Alejandro
9. Michael
10. Anthony

And these were the top 10 girl names and 10 boy names among Colorado’s Black babies:

Girl names, BlackBoy names, Black
1. Jasmine
2. Taylor
3. Alexis
4. Ashley
5. Brianna
6. Destiny
7. Danielle
8. Dominique
9. Imani
10. Aaliyah		1. Isaiah
2. Elijah
3. Malik
4. Brandon
5. Jordan
6. Michael
7. David
8. Joshua
9. James
10. Aaron

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Colorado (public domain)

Popular baby names in Philadelphia, 2005-2016

Flag of Pennsylvania
Flag of Pennsylvania

Did you know that you can find old vital statistics reports for the City of Philadelphia on the city’s website? And that most of these reports include baby name rankings?

I don’t want you to have to comb through a bunch of PDFs to find Philly’s historical top-ten lists, though, so — just as with New York City and Austin — I gathered all of them into a single blog post.

I was able to track down eleven sets of rankings — six covering 2005 to 2010, five covering 2012 to 2016. Eight of them also happen to include total numbers of babies.

2016

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2016.

Top girl names (Philly, 2016)Top boy names (Philly, 2016)
1. Ava, 92 baby girls
2. Sophia, 80
3. Isabella, 69 (tie)
4. Riley, 69 (tie)
5. Mia, 67
6. Olivia, 66
7. Emma, 62
8. Emily, 61
9. Madison, 54
10. Aubrey, 52		1. Noah, 143 baby boys
2. Mason, 104
3. Liam, 100
4. Elijah, 83 (tie)
5. Michael, 83 (tie)
6. James, 76
7. Alexander, 75 (3-way tie)
8. Ethan, 75 (3-way tie)
9. Ryan, 75 (3-way tie)
10. Aiden, 70

2015

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2015.

Top girl names (Philly, 2015)Top boy names (Philly, 2015)
1. Ava, 110 baby girls
2. Olivia, 101
3. Isabella, 95
4. Mia, 82
5. Madison, 70
6. Sophia, 69
7. Emma, 64
8. Aubrey, 62
9. Skylar, 54 (tie)
10. Sofia, 54 (tie)		1. Noah, 138 baby boys
2. Mason, 129
3. Michael, 101
4. Liam, 100
5. Daniel, 95
6. Jayden, 94
7. Elijah, 88
8. Aiden, 82
9. Ethan, 78
10. James, 73

2014

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2014.

Top girl names (Philly, 2014)Top boy names (Philly, 2014)
1. Olivia, 91 baby girls
2. Ava, 89
3. Isabella, 77 (tie)
4. Madison, 77 (tie)
5. Mia, 73
6. Emma, 71 (tie)
7. Sophia, 71 (tie)
8. Aubrey, 58
9. Emily, 55
10. Skylar, 52		1. Mason, 133 baby boys
2. Noah, 124
3. Ethan, 104
4. Daniel, 96 (tie)
5. Liam, 96 (tie)
6. Jayden, 93
7. Michael, 88
8. James, 87
9. Aiden, 82 (tie)
10. Logan, 82 (tie)

2013

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2013.

Top girl names (Philly, 2013)Top boy names (Philly, 2013)
1. Isabella, 95 baby girls
2. Sophia, 92
3. Ava, 85
4. Madison, 76
5. Olivia, 71
6. Emma, 66
7. Aubrey, 63
8. Mia, 54
9. Layla, 53
10. Abigail, 45		1. Jayden, 117 baby boys
2. Noah, 111
3. Michael, 108
4. Mason, 107
5. Liam, 94
6. Jacob, 88
7. Aiden, 86
8. Ryan, 82
9. Ethan, 81 (tie)
10. James, 81 (tie)

2012

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2012.

Top girl names (Philly, 2012)Top boy names (Philly, 2012)
1. Sophia, 105 baby girls
2. Isabella, 97
3. Ava, 90
4. Olivia, 84
5. Madison, 79
6. Emma, 69
7. Mia, 55
8. Peyton, 50 (tie)
9. Layla, 50 (tie)
10. Zoe, 49		1. Jayden, 138 baby boys
2. Michael, 110
3. Aiden, 108
4. Mason, 104
5. James, 95 (tie)
6. Elijah, 95 (tie)
7. Noah, 92
8. Ethan, 90
9. Jacob, 87
10. Liam, 86

2010

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2010.

Top girl names (Philly, 2010)Top boy names (Philly, 2010)
1. Isabella
2. Madison
3. Sophia
4. Ava
5. London
6. Kayla
7. Mia
8. Makayla
9. Nevaeh
10. Emma		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Joshua
5. Elijah
6. Joseph
7. Ryan
8. Aiden
9. Christopher
10. Jacob

2009

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2009.

Top girl names (Philly, 2009)Top boy names (Philly, 2009)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Kayla
4. Olivia
5. Nevaeh
6. Makayla
7. Layla
8. London
9. Madison
10. Ava		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Joshua
5. Daniel
6. Joseph
7. Christopher
8. Christian
9. Nathan
10. Elijah

2008

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2008.

Top girl names (Philly, 2008)Top boy names (Philly, 2008)
1. Kayla
2. Isabella
3. Ava
4. Sophia
5. Madison
6. Olivia
7. Destiny
8. Emily
9. Mia
10. London		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Christopher
5. Daniel
6. Joshua
7. Ryan
8. Joseph
9. Nicholas
10. Ethan

2007

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2007.

Top girl names (Philly, 2007)Top boy names (Philly, 2007)
1. Kayla, 101 baby girls
2. Ava, 74 (tie)
3. Sophia, 74 (tie)
4. Olivia, 71
5. Madison, 62
6. Emily, 53 (tie)
7. Isabella, 53 (tie)
8. Mia, 52
9. Aniyah, 51 (tie)
10. Gianna, 51 (tie)		1. Anthony, 151 baby boys
2. Michael, 150
3. Jayden, 144
4. Christopher, 116
5. Joseph, 112
6. Ryan, 103
7. Joshua, 101
8. William, 92
9. Daniel, 89
10. David, 87

2006

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2006.

Top girl names (Philly, 2006)Top boy names (Philly, 2006)
1. Kayla, 105 baby girls
2. Isabella, 69
3. Destiny, 66
4. Emily, 64
5. Gianna, 62
6. Jayla, 61
7. Ava, 60
8. Sophia, 54
9. Alyssa, 53 (tie)
10. Brianna, 53 (tie)		1. Michael, 156 baby boys
2. Anthony, 153
3. Christopher, 120
4. Joseph, 111
5. Joshua, 104
6. Elijah, 91
7. Isaiah, 89
8. Daniel, 88 (3-way tie)
9. David, 88 (3-way tie)
10. William, 88 (3-way tie)

2005

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2005.

Top girl names (Philly, 2005)Top boy names (Philly, 2005)
1. Kayla, 93 baby girls
2. Destiny, 79
3. Emily, 69
4. Madison, 61
5. Samantha, 53
6. Angelina, 52
7. Ava, 50 (tie)
8. Brianna, 50 (tie)
9. Makayla, 49
10. Olivia, 48		1. Michael, 156 baby boys
2. Anthony, 140
3. Christopher, 125
4. Joseph, 123
5. Joshua, 102
6. Daniel, 101
7. Nicholas, 99
8. Matthew, 97
9. John, 84
10. Isaiah, 82

Finally, because Philadelphia and New York City are relatively close to one another, I thought I’d compare/contrast the rankings above with the NYC rankings for the same years (2005 to 2016, excluding 2011).

Parents in both cities often liked the same names, but not always at the same time, or to the same degree. During the years that Kayla ranked #1 in Philly, for instance, it was already on the decline in NYC.

Here are all the names that reached the top 10 at least twice in one city, but zero times in the other city:

Girl namesBoy names
Top-10 in Philly only
(2+ instances)		Aubrey, Destiny, Gianna, Layla, London, Makayla, Nevaeh, SkylarElijah, Isaiah, James, Mason, William
Top-10 in NYC only
(2+ instances)		Ashley, Chloe, Leah, Sarah, RachelDylan, Justin

Any thoughts on these differences?

Sources: Philadelphia‘s Vital Statistics Reports for 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf), 2014 (pdf), 2013 (pdf), 2012 (pdf), 2010 (pdf), 2009 (pdf), 2008 (pdf), 2007 (pdf), 2006 (pdf), 2005 (pdf)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Pennsylvania (public domain)

Popular baby names in Fort Bend County (Texas), 2024 & 2023

Flag of Texas
Flag of Texas

The Texas county of Fort Bend, located in the southeastern part of the state, welcomes roughly 9,000 babies per year.

What were the most popular names among last year’s babies specifically? Emma and Noah, according to data released by the Fort Bend County Clerk’s office.

Here are Fort Bend’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2024:

Girl names, 2024

  1. Emma
  2. Olivia
  3. Isabella
  4. Sophia
  5. Ava
  6. Camila
  7. Amelia
  8. Aria
  9. Mia
  10. Eliana

Boy names, 2024

  1. Noah
  2. Liam
  3. Elijah
  4. Mateo
  5. Sebastian
  6. Daniel
  7. Levi
  8. Oliver
  9. Luke
  10. Ethan

And here are the county’s top baby names of 2023:

Girl names, 2023

  1. Camila
  2. Mia
  3. Olivia
  4. Sofia
  5. Emma
  6. Sophia
  7. Evelyn
  8. Amelia
  9. Gianna
  10. Isabella

Boy names, 2023

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Lucas
  4. Elijah
  5. Sebastian
  6. Mateo
  7. Santiago
  8. Matthew
  9. Oliver
  10. Ethan

It should be noted that these two sets of rankings — which were based on the records of “5,731 registered births” and “6,457 registered births,” respectively — account for most, but not all, of the county’s births in 2024 and 2023.

I’ve never posted rankings for Fort Bend County before, but I did post the 2023 rankings for the city of Houston, a small portion of which is located within Fort Bend. (Most of Houston is located in Harris County.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)