A male name. Hebrew ‘The Lord is Jah’, the same name (differently vocalized) as Elihu (q.v.). It was one of the most popular Old Testament names in the Middle Ages, the various vernacular forms of it being derived from the Greek form Ελίας. The English Ellis, French Élie, and the diminutive Eliot were all common in England, as is testified by the numerous surnames formed from them (e.g. Ellis, Ellison, Ely, Eley, Eliot, Elliot, Eliott,Elliott). Ellis gradually went out of fashion, though it is found in use a late as the end of the 15th C; in the 17th C the Puritans took to using Elijah (the form in which the name appears in the Old Testament in the Authorized Version of the Bible). A well-known example of the name is Sir Elijah Impcy (1732-1809), the friend and colleague of Warren Hastings. Ellis and Eliot are nowadays often found as christian names, but they are usually surnames being so used.

Elis Curia Regis Rolls 1199-1215, Hundred Rolls 1273. Elys Hundred Rolls 1273, Elias Feudal Aids 1316. Elyas Feudal Aids 1303. Elye Hundred Rolls 1273. Elie Placita de Quo Warranto 1292. Eliot Curia Regis Rolls 1210. Elyot Hundred Rolls 1273.

Hebrew ‘God the Lord’, through the Greek (cf. Elias in the New Testament). Its use in England, where it now occurs but rarely, may have been, in part, occasioned by its employment in Holland. It is therefore cognate with the next two names; indeed, it is best considered as a form of Elijah.

From’Ηλιας, the Greek form of Elijah.

E-ly'-as, God the Lord, the strong Lord. See Elijah. John the Baptist Matt xvi. 14; Matt, xvii. 12.

Meaning: Greek form of Elijah.

A Latin name, meaning: Cheerful. Some authorities give this as a form of Elijah.