Eli

Eli (אלי), a variant on the name of God as spoken in Hebrew and Aramaic. (The "i" suffix indicates first person singular possession, i.e., "my El" or "my God")[1][2] Eli (town) (עלי), an Israeli settlement in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) Eli (Biblical Priest) (עלי), a Biblical character who trained the young prophet Samuel Eli Lilly and Company, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies {also Eli Lilly} Eli, a nickname for a Yale University student, after Yale benefactor Elihu Yale Eli, a common first name in Hebrew.[3] People with this name include: Eli Wallach, movie actor Eli Cohen, Israeli spy Eli Whitney, inventor Eli Hamilton Janney, engineer, confederate soldier Eli Yishai, Israeli politician Elie Wiesel, Holocaust writer Eli Ohana, football player Eli Manning, football player Eli Heckscher, Swedish academic Eli Biham, Israeli cryptogropher Eli M. Black, businessman Eli, the American version first name of the Cardcaptor Sakura character Eriol Hiiragizawa Eli (Xena), a fictional character on Xena: Warrior Princess who was a spiritually-oriented pacifist. The name is a reference to the prophet Elijah. It can be argued that this character was meant to be a pastiche of Jesus. Dr. Eli Vance, a fictional character in the video game Half-Life 2 Eli, a fictional character on Children of The Corn: Boy Preachers

[edit] Notes ^ In Semitic languages, the "al" and "el" sounds are often merged, (as in "ael") thus the Aramaic "Eli" is directly related to the Arabic Allah and identical to Hebrew "El". It is related also to similar Semitic words in Assyrian (ilu), Phoenician, Aramaic, Arabic and Ethiopic. ^ In Hebrew and many Yiddish Languages, Eli means "the highest" or "to the Highest". ^ However, there is a distinction between Eli spelled with an aleph א, which is a diminutive form of Eliahu (Elijah), Eliezer, etc. and Eli spelled with an 'ayin ע, which is the name of the high priest in the Books of Samuel (see List of Hebrew names). Elya, which is Yiddish for Elijah, is spelled with an ayin in the beginning and end of the name. In English it is pronounced /ˈiːlaɪ/, for example by Eli Whitney and Eli Yale.

[edit] See also Eli, Eli Elohim Allah Ali (disambiguation) Theophory in the Bible for names with "El" in them Elizabeth Eliza Elia Ella Aelle Ælle æ