Eli (name)
Eli (/ˈiːlaɪ/) is a given name of Hebrew origin, from Biblical עֵלִי "ascent", the name of Eli, the high priest in the Books of Samuel.[1] It came to be used as a given name among the Puritans in the 17th century and was by them taken to the American colonies.[2]
Alternatively, Eli may be an unrelated abbreviation of Hebrew names such as Elijah, Elisha, Eliezer, Elimelech, etc., all containing the element אלי, meaning "my God".
In the United States, 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 43rd most popular given name as of 2013.[3]
Eli and Elin are also short forms for the feminine name Helena used in Scandinavia.[4]
Hebrew given name
Biblical given name
- Eli Whitney (1765–1825) American inventor of the cotton gin
- Eli Todd (1769–1833), pioneer in the treatment of the mentally ill in Connecticut
- Eli Terry (1772–1852) inventor and clockmaker in Connecticut
- Eli Whitney Blake (1795–1886), American inventor
- Eli M. Saulsbury (1817–1893) U.S. Senator from Delaware
- Eli Thayer (1819–1899), member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts
- Eli Todd Tappan (1824–1888) American educator, mathematician, author, lawyer and newspaper editor
- Eli Jones Henkle (1825 — 1893), U.S. Congressman from Maryland
- Eli Metcalfe Bruce (1828–1866) philanthropist, financier and politician from Kentucky
- Eli C. D. Shortridge (1830–1908), Governor of North Dakota
- Eli H. Janney (1831–1912), engineer, confederate soldier
- Eli Whitney Blake, Jr. (1836–1895), American scientist
- Eli Long (1837–1903), General in the Union Army in the American Civil War
- Eli Lilly (1838–1898) American soldier, pharmaceutical chemist, and industrialist, founder of Eli Lilly and Company
- Eli Franklin Burton (1879–1948), Canadian physicist
- Eli Heckscher (1879–1952), Swedish economist
- Eli Lilly (industrialist) (1885–1977), American industrialist, grandson of the Colonel
- Eli Siegel (1902–1978), Latvian-American poet, critic and philosopher
- Eli Thomas Reich (1913–1999) US Vice Admiral
- Eli L. Whiteley (1913–1986), American awarded Medal of Honor
- Eli M. Oboler (1915–1983) librarian, Idaho State University and writer
- Eli Beeding (1928-2013), U.S. Air Force captain and rocket test subject
- Eli Broad (born 1933) American billionaire, philanthropist, art collector
- Eli Bebout (born 1946), Wyoming politician
- Eli Langer (born 1967), Canadian artist
- Eli Walker (born 1992), Welsh Rugby player
Hebrew name אלי
- Eli Wallach (1915–2014), movie actor
- Eli Amir (אלי עמיר born 1937) Israeli writer and peace activist
- Eli Noam (born 1946), professor at Columbia University
- Eli Biham (אלי ביהם, born 1960), Israeli cryptographer
- Eli Ohana (אלי אוחנה, born 1964), Israeli football player
- Eli Yatzpan (born 1965), Israeli television host and comedian
- Eli Roth (born 1972) American film director
Hypocoristic of a Hebrew given name
- Elihu Yale (1649–1721), benefactor of Yale University, also known as "Eli Yale"
- Eli M. Black (Elihu) (1921–1975), American businessman
- Elie Wiesel (אלי ויזל; Eliezer) (born 1928), Human rights activist, Holocaust writer
- Eli Hurvitz (Elihu, 1932-2011), Israeli industrialist
- Eli Yishai (אליהו "אלי" ישי, Eliyahu, born 1962), Israeli politician
- Eli Manning (Elisha) (born 1981), American football player
Pseudonyms and nicknames
- Bobby Eli (real name Eli Treuherz), American musician, arranger, composer and record producer
- Eli, a nickname for a Yale University student or graduate, after Yale benefactor Elihu Yale
Fictional characters
Notable fictional characters with this given name are:
- Eli Wallace a fictional character on the science fiction television series Stargate Universe
- Eli Dingle, a fictional character in British soap Emmerdale played by Joseph Gilgun
Surname
"Eli" is also a surname. It may derive from any of the given names abbreviated "Eli", or it may be unrelated.
- Billy Eli (born 1962), American singer and songwriter
- Look Tin Eli (died 1919), Chinese-American businessman
- Roger Eli (born 1965), English former footballer
Short form of Helena
"Eli" is also the spelling of a Scandinavian hypocoristic of the name "Helena".
- Eli Arnstad (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 (born 1955), Norwegian television personality
- Eli Skolmen Ryg (born 1936), Norwegian television producer
- Eli Sollied Øveraas (born 1949), Norwegian politician
See also
References
- ↑ Withycombe, E. G. (1976) [1944]. The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names (3rd edition ed.). London: Omega Books. ISBN 1-85007-059-8.
- ↑ Royal Ralph Hinman,A catalogue of the names of the first Puritan settlers of the colony of Connecticut, 1846, p. 169 mentions one Eli Bush, born 1741. David Pickering, The Penguin Book of Baby Names, Penguin, 2009. See also babynamespedia.com.
- ↑ behindthename.com
- ↑ Eli – kvinnenavn, Store Norske Leksikon, visited 20 May 2009