Elias (/ɪˈlaɪəs/ il-EYE-əs; Ancient Greek: Ἠλίας, romanized: Elías) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (Hebrew: אֵלִיָּהוּ, romanized: ʾĒlīyyāhū; Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ, romanized: Elyāe; Arabic: إلیاس, romanized: Ilyās, or إلیا, Ilyā), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated traditions, the name is used as a personal name in numerous languages.
Variants
edit- Éilias Irish
- Elia Italian, English
- Elias Norwegian
- Elías Icelandic
- Éliás Hungarian
- Elías Spanish
- Eliáš, Elijáš Czech
- Elijah, Elia, Ilyas, Elias Indonesian
- Elias, Eelis, Eljas Finnish
- Elias Danish, German, Swedish
- Elias Portuguese
- Elias, Iliya (ایلیا ,الیاس) Persian
- Elias, Elis Swedish
- Elias, Elyas (ኤሊያስ) Ethiopian
- Elias, Elyas Philippines
- Eliasz Polish
- Élie French
- Elija Slovene
- Elijah English, Hebrew
- Elis Welsh
- Elisedd Welsh
- Eliya (එලියා) Sinhala
- Eliyas (Ілияс) Kazakh
- Eliyahu, Eliya (אֵלִיָּהוּ, אליה) Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew
- Elyās, Ilyās, Eliya (إیلیا, إلیاس) Arabic
- Elliot, Elliott English
- Ellis English, Welsh (anglicised)
- Helias Ecclesiastical Latin
- Ilia (Илия) Bulgarian, Church Slavonic, Macedonian, Russian
- Ilia (ილია) Georgian
- Ilias (Ηλίας) Koine Greek, Modern Greek[1]
- Ilie Romanian
- Ilija (Илија) Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian
- Ilja German
- Iljo (Иљо) Macedonian
- Iliya (Илия) Bulgarian
- Illés Hungarian
- Illia (Ілля) Ukrainian
- Ilya (Илья) Russian
- İlyas Turkish
- Ilyos Uzbek
- Ilias/Ilyas/Elias/Elyas/Alias/Alyas Malay
- Líggjas Faroese
- Yeghia (Եղիա) Armenian
- 埃利亚斯 (āi lì yǎ sī) Chinese
Feminized variants
edit- Iliana (Илиана) Bulgarian
- Ilina (Илина) Bulgarian, Macedonian
- Ilinca Romanian
- Ilinka (Илинка) Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian
- Eliana, Iliana Greek
- Éliane French
People with the given name
edit- Elias (Greek scholar), 6th century commentator on Aristotle and Porphyry
- List of Catholicoi of Armenia, Armenian religious leader, Catholicos of All Armenians from 703 to 717
- Elias of Nisibis (975–1046), Nestorian bishop of Nisibis and an important mediaeval chronicler, also known as Elijah of Nisibis and Eliya bar Shinaya
- Elias, Duke of Parma (1880–1959), head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the defunct throne of Parma
- Elías Ahúja y Andría (1863–1951), Spanish politician
- Elias Alves da Silva (born 1981), Brazilian football player
- Elias Ammerbach (1530–1597), German organist
- Elias Ashmole (1617–1692), English antiquary and politician
- Elias Atallah (born 1947), Lebanese politician
- Elias Atmatsidis (born 1969), Greek football player
- Elias Bonine (1843–1916), American photographer
- Elias Boudinot (1740–1821), American politician
- Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) (1802–1839), Native American writer
- Elias Breeskin (1896–1969), Russian violinist
- Elias Canetti (1905–1994), Bulgarian writer
- Elias Chandler (1856–1909), American colonel and major
- Elias Charalambous (born 1980), Cypriot footballer
- Elias James Corey (born 1928), American chemist
- Elias Dayton (1737–1807), American soldier and politician
- Elias P. Demetracopoulos, Greek journalist
- Elias Disney (1859–1941), Canadian businessman, father of Walt Disney
- Elias Dolah (born 1993), Thai footballer
- Elias (footballer, born 1963), Portuguese footballer, full name Fernando Elias Oliveira da Silva
- Elias Farkouh (1948–2020), Jordanian writer
- Elias Freij (1918–1998), Palestinian mayor
- Elias Gleizer (1934–2015), Brazilian actor and comedian
- Elias Gottlob Haussmann (1695–1774), German painter
- Elias Harris (born 1989), German basketball player
- Elias Hicks (1748-1830), American Quaker Preacher
- Elias Holl (1573–1646), German architect
- Elias Howe (1819–1867), American inventor of the sewing machine
- Elias Hrawi (1925–2006), Lebanese politician
- Elias Kane (1794–1835), American politician
- Elias Khoury (1948-2024), Lebanese writer
- Elias Koteas (born 1961), Greek-Canadian actor
- Elias Lianos, Greek businessman
- Elias Lindholm (born 1994), Swedish ice hockey player
- Elias Lönnrot (1802–1884), Finnish philologist
- Elias Loomis (1811–1889), American mathematician
- Elias Mendes Trindade (born 1985), Brazilian former footballer
- Elias Motsoaledi (1924-1994), South African anti-apartheid activist
- Elias Murr (born 1962), Lebanese politician
- Elias Ngeny (born 1996), Kenyan middle-distance runner
- Elias Pavlidis (born 1978), Greek boxer
- Elias Petropoulos (1928–2003), Greek musicologist and writer
- Elias Pettersson (born 1998), Swedish ice hockey player
- Elias Polk (1806-1886), American slave and political activist
- Elias Porter (1914–1987), American psychologist
- Elias Rababi (1913–1999), Lebanese journalist and politician
- Elias Ricks, American football player
- Elias Bender Rønnenfelt (born 1992), Danish singer
- Elias Alford Rowan (1837–1912), American politician
- Elias Sarkis (1924–1985), Lebanese lawyer and President of Lebanon from 1976 to 1982
- Elias "Vic" Seixas, known as Vic Seixas (born 1923), American Hall of Fame former top-10 tennis player
- Elias Seppänen (born 2003), Finnish racing driver
- Elias Shoufani (1932–2013), Palestinian author and historian
- Elias Soares de Oliveira, Elias (footballer, born 1931), Brazilian former football striker
- Elias Spantidakis, known as Louis Tikas (1886–1914), Greek-American union leader
- Elias M. Stein (1931–2018), American mathematician
- Elias Tahan (born 1986), American photographer
- Elias Toufexis (born 1975), Greek-Canadian actor
- Elias Vattis (born 1986), Cypriot football player
- Elias Venezis (1904–1973), Greek writer
- Elias Viljanen (born 1975), Finnish musician
- Elias Wessén (1889–1981), Swedish linguist
- Elias Wright (1830–1901), American Union brevet brigadier general during the Civil War era
- Elias Zerhouni (born 1951), Algerian-born American doctor
- Elias Zoghby (1912–2008), Lebanese archbishop
Fictional characters with the given name
edit- Elias Acorn, Prince and later King of the Kingdom of Acorn in Sonic the Hedgehog by Archie; he is the older brother of Sally Acorn.
- Elias, a prominent gangster whose goals lead him to both conflict and work with (directly and indirectly) in the TV series Person of Interest; he is shot in the head and perhaps killed in the 4th season's finale during a fight with a rival gang leader
- Elias Bogan, fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe
- Elias Grover, fictional character in the 2006 film Clerks II
- Elias P. Guerrero, a lead character from Philippine action drama series Black Rider
- Sergeant Elias Grodin, fictional character portrayed by Willem Dafoe in the 1986 film Platoon
- Elias, fictional character in Panel de Pon
- Elias Ryker, fictional character in Richard K. Morgan's novel, Altered Carbon
- Elias Taylor, fictional character in V (1983 miniseries)
- Elias "Eli" Thompson, fictional character in the television series Boardwalk Empire
- Elijah "Eli" Goldsworthy, fictional character from Degrassi: The Next Generation
- Elías, a main character from José Rizal's patriotic novel "Noli Me Tángere"
- Elias Carstairs, a character from Cassandra Clare's "The Infernal Devices" prequel to "The Mortal Instruments"
- Elias Walker, fictional character in the 2013 video game Call of Duty: Ghosts
- Dr. Elias Huer, fictional character from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979)
- Elias "Blitz" Kötz, fictional character in the 2015 video game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
- Elias Venturius, one of the two protagonists of the Sabaa Tahir novel An Ember in the Ashes
- Elias Rahim, fiction character in the television series The OA
- Elias Bouchard, the Head of the Magnus Institute in horror fiction podcast The Magnus Archives
- Elias, fictional character from the 2015 comedy film Men & Chicken
- Elias Ainsworth fictional character from The Ancient Magus' Bride
People with the surname
edit- Akhteruzzaman Elias (1943–1997), Bengali writer
- Alex Elias, American entrepreneur
- Alois Eliáš (1890–1942), Czechoslovak general and politician
- Benny Elias (born 1963), Lebanese-Australian rugby league player
- Blas Elias (born 1967), American musician
- Dave Elias (1969-2013), Canadian curler
- David Elias (born 1949), Canadian writer
- Duncan David Elias (born 1985), Singaporean football player
- Eliane Elias (born 1960), Lebanese-Brazilian musician
- Erick Elías (born 1980), Mexican actor
- Eulalia Elias (1788–1865), American rancher
- Gastão Elias (born 1990), Portuguese tennis player
- Hanin Elias (born 1972), German musician
- Hendrik Elias (1902–1973), Belgian politician
- Isaak Elias (1912–1998), Canadian politician
- Joan Puig i Elias (1898–1972), Catalan pedagogue and anarchist
- Johan Engelbert Elias (1895–1959), Dutch historian, also known as Vroedschap van Amsterdam
- John Elias (1775–1841), Christian preacher in Wales
- John Elias (rugby league) (born 1963), Lebanese-Australian rugby league footballer and coach
- Jonathan Elias (born 1956), American composer
- Lee Elias (1920–1998), American comics artist
- Manny Elias (born 1953), English drummer
- Mike Elias (born 1982), American baseball executive
- Norbert Elias (1897–1990), German sociologist
- Patrik Eliáš (born 1976), Czech ice hockey player
- Peter Elias (1923–2001), American computer scientist
- Rick Elias, Nashville songwriter and singer
- Robert Elias, birth name of Robert Downey Sr., American actor and film director
- Roenis Elías, Cuban Major League Baseball pitcher
- Rosalind Elias (1930–2020), American singer
- Quentin Elias (1980–2014), French model and actor
- Sandy Abi Elias, Lebanese footballer
- Sian Elias (born 1949), New Zealand judge
- Taslim Olawale Elias (1914–1991), Nigerian judge
- Ton Elias (born 1955), retired Dutch politician
- Toni Elías (born 1983), Spanish motorcyclist
- Zé Elias (born 1976), Brazilian football player
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Yvonne Navarro (2007). First Name Reverse Dictionary: Given Names Listed by Meaning. Second Edition. McFarland & Company. p. 116 pp. ISBN 978-0786429349.