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, Elisha, Eliezer, 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.