Alijah
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Meaning
variant spelling of Elijah, traditionally translated as 'the Lord is my God'
Goes by Eli. See all nicknames
The story
Alijah is Elijah answered phonetically, the A doing the work the E used to do, and underneath the respelling sits one of the oldest declarations on record: my God is Yahweh, the name of the prophet who faced down the priests of Baal. The spelling is young: about 800 in the 1990s, 4,200 in the 2000s, cresting at 6,300 in the 2010s, with 4,340 already this decade, running ahead of the last full decade's pace. It rides the great Elijah wave: the parent spelling counts about 381,100 and has spent a generation among the most popular boys' names in the country. Alijah goes mostly to boys, about 14,200 to 1,500, and keeps Eli on call the way Elijah always has. Same prophet, same thunder, one vowel of independence.
How popular is Alijah around the world?
In the United States, 4,341 babies were named Alijah between 2020 and 2025.
Alijah is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, England and Wales and Canada.
United States
1 in 5,000
In the United States, 4,341 babies were named Alijah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Alijah peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Alijah in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 23,000
In England and Wales, 25 boys named Alijah were born in 2025, ranked 1,153rd among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 24,000
In Canada, 15 boys named Alijah were born in 2024, ranked 1,459th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Austria
last on record 2015
Alijah is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Alijah
Most people given the name Alijah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Alijah · Names that go with Alijah · Nicknames for Alijah
The Alijah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Alijah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Alijah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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