| Luke | Elias | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | From Lucania; light | The Lord is my God |
| Origin | Greek | Greek |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | LOOK | ee-LY-us |
| Syllables | 1 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 2014 (10,523) | 2025 (8,837) |
| In 2025 | 6,948 | 8,837 |
| Trend | Steady | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Luke | Elias |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 44,149 | 42,605 |
| 2010s | 93,274 | 40,925 |
| 2000s | 90,506 | 19,617 |
| 1990s | 44,434 | 8,856 |
| 1980s | 27,044 | 4,479 |
| 1970s | 10,283 | 2,962 |
| 1960s | 4,071 | 1,774 |
| 1950s | 2,308 | 1,547 |
| 1940s | 1,298 | 1,227 |
| 1930s | 1,269 | 1,355 |
| 1920s | 1,699 | 1,766 |
| 1910s | 1,343 | 1,144 |
| 1900s | 498 | 254 |
| 1890s | 402 | 302 |
| 1880s | 442 | 450 |
Luke is the English form of the Greek Loukas, “from Lucania,” a region of southern Italy. Luke the Evangelist, a physician, wrote the third Gospel and the Book of Acts.
Elias is the Greek and Latin form of Elijah, from the Hebrew for “my God is Yahweh.” It appears in the New Testament and is used across Europe.
Elias is more popular than Luke today: about 8,837 US babies were given the name Elias in 2025, compared with 6,948 named Luke.
Luke means From Lucania; light (Greek origin), while Elias means The Lord is my God (Greek origin).
In US records, Luke first appears in 1880 and Elias in 1880, so Luke has the longer recorded history.