Elijah in Arabic has three spellings. The Quran calls the prophet إلياس (Ilyās), the form Muslims use. Arab Christians call him إيليا (Īliyā), after the Bible. For an English speaker named Elijah, Arabic spells the sound: إليجاه (Eelijah), as Arabic Wikipedia does for the actor Elijah Wood.
Copy the form you need. The Listen button reads each spelling in your device's Arabic voice, if it has one, so you can hear how إلياس, إيليا and إليجاه differ.
| Use it for | Copy this | Transliteration | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Quranic form, the one Muslims use | إلياس | Ilyās | |
| The form Arab Christians use, from the Arabic Bible | إيليا | Īliyā | |
| The English name Elijah, spelled by its sound | إليجاه | Eelijah |
Elijah in Arabic calligraphy, in three styles
Renders of إلياس, إيليا and إليجاه, in Amiri, Reem Kufi and Aref Ruqaa, drawn straight from the font files.
إلياس, إيليا or إليجاه: which spelling should you use?
For the prophet, Arabic Wikipedia has two articles: إلياس for the prophet of the Quran, named in Quran 37:123, and إيليا for the Elijah of the Books of Kings. Both are given names as well: Wiktionary lists each as the Arabic form of Elias. For an English speaker named Elijah, use إليجاه.
| Spelling | Who uses it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| إلياس | Muslims: the prophet named in the Quran | Quran 37:123; Arabic Wikipedia, إلياس |
| إيليا | Arab Christians: the prophet of the Books of Kings | Arabic Wikipedia, إيليا |
| إليجاه | Arabic writing the English name Elijah by its sound, for an English speaker | our name tool, from Arabic Wikipedia |
How Arabic Wikipedia writes people called Elijah
For the prophet Elijah, Arabic Wikipedia uses the Arabic form. For the two modern people called Elijah in the table below, its titles write إليجاه twice. Our name tool gives إليجاه, the spelling of Elijah Wood's article.
| Person or work | Arabic Wikipedia title | First name as written |
|---|---|---|
| Elijah Wood | إليجاه وود | إليجاه |
| Elijah McCoy | إليجاه مكوي | إليجاه |
How إلياس is spelled, letter by letter
إلياس has five letters, read from right to left, starting with the letter إ, alif with hamza below. إ alif with hamza below and ا alif never join the letter after them, so إلياس always shows two small gaps. Arabic writes only long vowels as letters. The two short vowels are marks that everyday spelling leaves out; إِلْيَاس shows them.
| Letter | Name | Sound | Joins the next letter? |
|---|---|---|---|
| إ | alif with hamza below | i | No, never |
| ل | lām | l | Yes |
| ي | yāʾ | y | Yes |
| ا | alif | ā | No, never |
| س | sīn | s | Last letter |
What does Elijah mean?
Elijah means my God is Yahweh, according to Behind the Name. The Hebrew ʾEliyyahu means my God is Yahweh. Elias is the Greek and Latin form of the name; إلياس keeps its final s, while إيليا does without it. Our list of Arabic boy names writes إلياس as Ilyas. Elijah was the eighth most common name given to boys born in the US in 2024, according to the Social Security Administration's announced 2024 list.
Two related names on this site are Michael in Arabic, ميخائيل and Jonah in Arabic, يونس. For Arabic names to choose from, browse the Arabic boy names with their meanings, part of our Arabic vocabulary lists.
Write إلياس in more fonts and download it
Paste إلياس into the box below, or into our Arabic calligraphy generator, to draw it in 12 more fonts and save it as a PNG.
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Naskh the print style
Thuluth-style Naskh with Thuluth touches
Kufi angular, for logos and titles
Ruqah everyday handwriting
Nastaliq the hanging Persian and Urdu style
Kano West African reed-pen style
Poster bold display lettering
Nothing you type leaves your browser; the only thing fetched is the fonts, from Google Fonts. Want to type in these styles on your own computer? Download free Arabic fonts, with our pick for each style.
Frequently asked questions
What is Elijah in the Quran?
The Quran calls him إلياس (Ilyās), one of the messengers, in 37:123. Muslims use that form; Arab Christians use إيليا (Īliyā).
Is Ilyas the same as Elijah?
Yes. Ilyās, إلياس, is the Quranic and Muslim Arabic form of Elijah, and Īliyā, إيليا, is the Christian one. For an English speaker named Elijah, Arabic writes the sound: إليجاه.
What does the name Elijah mean?
Elijah means my God is Yahweh. It is Hebrew, ʾEliyyahu.
Which spelling of Elijah should I use for a tattoo?
Muslims write the name إلياس and Arab Christians write it إيليا; for the English name as English speakers say it, use إليجاه. In إلياس: The letters alif with hamza below and alif never join the letter after them, so the two small gaps are correct. In إيليا: The letter alif with hamza below never joins the letter after it, so the one small gap is correct. Paste your choice into the Arabic tattoo checker on this site before the stencil is made.