Sunday, January 1, 2012

Same Name?!--Elijah

Elijah is a name I looked up on a whim, and was amazed by the diversity of its variants. It's another Biblical name, but unlike most classic names from the Bible (with the notable exception of Elizabeth), Elijah has several familiar and popular forms.

Original Hebrew form: Eliyyahu [ אֱלִיָּהוּ] (el-lee-YAH-hoo)
Greek & Latin transliteration: Elias (el-EE-as)


Modern forms:
  • Elia (AY-lee-ah)--Dutch & Italian
  • Elias (EL-ee-as, el-EYE-as)--German, English, Scandinavian, Spanish
  • Elie (EL-ee)--French
  • Elliott (EL-ee-ot)--English
  • Elis (EL-lis)--Medieval English. Gave rise to the surname Ellis.
  • Illés (il-YESH)--Hungarian
  • Iliya (eel-EE-yah)--Bulgarian. Feminine is Ilina.
  • Ilya (eel-YAH)--Russian
  • Ilyas (eel-YAS)--Arabic


Oh, and Happy New Year!

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