How Many People Are Named Elijah Wood?

There are approximately 285 people named Elijah Wood living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,202,647 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Elijah with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Wood. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.

Estimated People with This Name

285

1 in 1,202,647 Americans

Combination Rarity

Uncommon

Very Rare Very Common

First Name

Elijah

Last Name

Wood

Elijah: Popularity Over Time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Elijah. The peak year was 2011 with 14,030 births. The average person named Elijah today is 17 years old.

Male

Female

Ancestry of the First Name Elijah

In the 2020 Census, the first name Elijah was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (42.47%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (23.54%) and Hispanic (21.01%).

These percentages describe the people who had the first name Elijah in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.

Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Elijah rose or fell over time.

White

42.47%

Black

23.54%

Hispanic

21.01%

Asian/Pacific Islander

2.48%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.94%

Two or More Races

9.56%

Ancestry of the Wood Surname

The surname Wood was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.

This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Wood in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.

White

85.60%

Black

5.23%

Hispanic

3.45%

Asian/Pacific Islander

0.83%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.76%

Two or More Races

4.13%

How we calculated this

The first name "Elijah" has an estimated frequency of 0.104% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.

The surname "Wood" appears at a rate of 79.94 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.

We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Elijah are likely to be alive now.

Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 285 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.

Other people named Elijah

Elijah Smith Elijah Johnson Elijah Williams Elijah Brown Elijah Jones Elijah Garcia Elijah Anderson Elijah Robinson

Other people with the surname Wood

Michael Wood James Wood John Wood David Wood Robert Wood William Wood Eric Wood Edward Wood

Elijah Wood: Questions and Answers

How many people are named Elijah Wood?

We estimate approximately 285 people named Elijah Wood are alive in the United States today. The first name Elijah is shared by 355,934 Americans, and the surname Wood is shared by 274,008.

How rare is the name Elijah Wood?

This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,202,647 Americans. The first name Elijah is common and the surname Wood is common.

Is Elijah a male or female name?

Elijah is predominantly male, with 99.7% of bearers being male and 0.3% female. It peaked in popularity in 2011 and the average bearer today is 17 years old.

What does the Census say about the first name Elijah?

In the 2020 Census, the first name Elijah was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (42.47%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (23.54%) and Hispanic (21.01%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.

Where does this data come from?

First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.

Try another name