Baby Name: Elliot

The name Eliantte debuted in the U.S baby name data in 2019, dropped out the data the next year, then returned in 2021:

• 2021: 13 baby boys named Eliantte
• 2020: unlisted
• 2019: 6 baby boys named Eliantte [debut]
• 2018: unlisted
• 2017: unlisted

Where did it come from?

New York City-based jewelry company Eliantte (pronounced el-ee-AHN-tay), known for creating extravagant, bespoke pieces for hip hop artists.

The brand has gotten shout-outs in hundreds of rap songs since early 2015. The songs that saw the most chart success (before/during 2019) were…

• “Famous” (2017) by 21 Savage
  • Lyric: “Went and seen Eliantte, and he froze us”
  • Peak: #94 on the U.S. Hot 100
• “Yosemite” (2018) by Travis Scott, feat. Gunna and Nav
  • Lyric: “Thirty pointers and up, Eliantte, drippin’, my whole team wet”
  • Peak: #25
• “Never Recover” (2018) by Lil Baby, Gunna and Drake
  • Lyric: “Hit Eliantte and left with a puddle”
  • Peak: #15
• “Startender” (2018) by A Boogie wit da Hoodie, feat. Offset and Tyga
  • Lyric: “Eliantte chains, now it’s time to run it up”
  • Peak: #59
• “Daddy” (2019) by Blueface, feat. Rich the Kid
  • Lyric: “Eliantte bust down on the chain”
  • Peak: #78

Other rappers that have name-checked Eliantte in one or more songs include Future, Young Thug, Young Scooter, Fetty Wap, Young Dolph, Rick Ross, Roddy Ricch, Soulja Boy, Playboi Carti, City Girls, Lil Uzi Vert, and Don Toliver.

So how did the brand come to be called “Eliantte”?

Eliantte & Co. was founded in 2018 by a man who goes by the name “Elliot Eliantte” (or simply “Eliantte”). He was previously known as “Elliot Avianne,” because he’d worked for the NYC-based jeweler Avianne & Co. for about a decade before starting his own business.

The nickname Eliantte emerged sometime in the mid-2010s, when Elliot was in the studio with rapper Young Scooter:

I got the name Eliantte from Young Scooter. He was trying to say my name in a song but it wasn’t really rhyming. So he said ‘eliantay.’

I actually stopped him after. I’m like, “Yo, that’s not my name. Say Elliot.”

And he’s like, “Bro, it’s not working.” He’s like, “We’re gonna go with ‘eliantay’.”

And then from there, you know, everybody was calling me ‘eliantay’.

I’m sure being mentioned in lyrics helped me out in my career, but also my craftsmanship, my detail, the designs I do, I set a lot of trends, so all that comes into play.

I’m not sure how he settled on the spelling “Eliantte.” I also couldn’t find any clues about Elliot’s actual surname. But I did learn that any mention of “Elliot” in a rap song is also typically a reference to Elliot Eliantte.

The name’s return to the data in 2021 may be due (at least in part) to the extra attention Elliot Eliantte got for selling Lil Uzi Vert the $24 million pink diamond that the rapper wore — implanted in his forehead — for roughly the first half of the year.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Eliantte?

Sources:

• DeStefano, Mike. “Two Decades of Diamonds: How Avianne and Co. Became the Go-To Jewelers for Cam’ron, Lil Baby, and More.” Complex 20 Mar. 2020.
• Expert Jeweler Eliantte Shows Off His Insane Jewelry Inventory | GQ (video)
• Genius.com
• Kupfer, Lindsey. “Lil Uzi Vert’s $24M diamond ripped out of his head at Rolling Loud.” Page Six 5 Sept. 2021.
• Meet The Jeweler Behind The Migos, Gunna & Young Thug’s Favorite Diamond Chains | Genius (video)
• Minton, Melissa. “Lil Uzi Vert spends $24M on pink diamond face implant.” Page Six 3 Feb. 2021.
• SSA
• Wikipedia

Images: © Eliantte & Co., © 2019 GQ