Eli (name)

The given name Eli has several origins, all from Hebrew:

1. with spelling עֵלִי, a reference to Eli, the high priest in the Books of Samuel. Traditional English-speaking Christian uses of the name are generally based on this Eli. The usual pronunciation is /ˈiːlaɪ/.
2. with spelling אלי, an abbeviation of Elijah or Elisha or Eliezer or Elhanan or Elimelech.
3. with spelling אלי, an independent Hebrew name meaning "My God."

People with this name include:

• Eli Amir (אלי עמיר, (born 1937) Israeli writer and peace activist
• Eli Bebout, (born 1946), Wyoming politician
• Eli Beeding, U.S. Air Force captain and rocket test subject
• Eli Biham, (אלי ביהם), Israeli cryptogropher
• Eli M. Black, (Elihu), (1921 – 1975) American businessman
• Eli Whitney Blake, two different American inventors (father and son)
• Eli Broad (born 1933) American billionaire, philanthropist, art collector
• Eli Metcalfe Bruce (1828 – 1866) philanthropist, financier and politician from Kentucky
• Eli Franklin Burton, (1879 – 1948), Canadian physicist
• Eli Cohen, (אלי כהן) (lived 1924 – 1965), Israeli spy
• Eli Heckscher, (1879 - 1952) Swedish economist
• Eli Jones Henkle, (1825 — 1893), U.S. Congressman from Maryland
• Eli Hamilton Janney, (1831 – 1912), engineer, confederate soldier
• Colonel Eli Lilly (1838 – 1898) American soldier, pharmaceutical chemist, and industrialist, founder of Eli Lilly and Company
• Eli Lilly (industrialist), (1885 – 1977) American industrialist, grandson of the Colonel
• Eli Long, (1837 – 1903), General in the Union Army in the American Civil War
• Eli Manning, (Elisha), (born 1981) American football player
• Eli Noam, (born 1946) professor at Columbia University
• Eli Ohana, (אלי אוחנה), Israeli football player
• Eli M. Oboler (1915 - 1983) librarian, Idaho State University and writer
• Eli Thomas Reich (1913 – 1999) US Vice Admiral
• Eli Roth (born 1972) American film director
• Eli M. Saulsbury (1817 – 1893) U.S. Senator from Delaware
• Eli C. D. Shortridge, (1830 – 1908), Governor of North Dakota
• Eli Siegel (1902 – 1978), Latvian-American poet, critic and philosopher
• Eli Terry (1772 – 1852) inventor and clockmaker in Connecticut
• 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 Todd, (1769 – 1833) pioneer in the treatment of the mentally ill in Connecticut
• Eli Wallach, (born 1915), movie actor
• Eli L. Whiteley, (1913 – 1986), American awarded Medal of Honor
• Eli Whitney, (1765 – 1825) American inventor of the cotton gin
• Elie Wiesel, (Eliezer), (born 1928), Human rights activist, Holocaust writer
• Eli Yale (Elihu) (1649 - 1721), benefactor of Yale University
• Eli Yishai, (אליהו "אלי" ישי), Israeli politician

Fictional characters with this given name are:

• Eli Vance, a fictional character in the video game Half-Life 2
• Eli Anatole Leonard, fictional character from the animated Robotech series
• Eli (Demonology 101), fictional character from the online comic Demonology 101
• Eli (Xena), a fictional character on Xena: Warrior Princess
• Eli (Hollyoaks), a fictional character in Hollyoaks
• Eli, the American version first name of the Cardcaptor Sakura character Eriol Hiiragizawa
• Eli, a fictional character on Children of The Corn: Boy Preachers
• Seaguard Eli, a fictional character from the video game Guild Wars
• Eli Sunday, a character from Paul Thomas Anderson's film There Will Be Blood, adapted from Upton Sinclair's book Oil!
• Eli Stone, a fictional character in the ABC show Eli Stone
• Eli, the Barrow Boy, fictional character from the Decemberists song of the same name.
• Eli Cash, a fictional character played by Owen Wilson in the movie The Royal Tenenbaums
• Eli Loker, a character that never lies on the TV show Lie To Me.
• Eli, one of the main characters in the 2004 Swedish vampire novel Let the Right One In and in the 2008 film adaptation.