Eliza
Meaning of Eliza
Eliza began as a short form of Elizabeth, which comes from the Hebrew name Elisheva, usually translated as "my God is an oath." It is pronounced uh-LIE-zuh in American English and ih-LIE-zuh in British English.
Famous Elizas include Eliza Doolittle, the Cockney flower seller in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion and the musical My Fair Lady. Alexander Hamilton's wife, Elizabeth, known as Eliza, is a central character in the musical Hamilton. On television, Eliza Dushku played Faith in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Eliza Taylor starred in The 100.
In the U.S., Eliza ranked 85th in 1880, its highest position, but fell as low as 1,198th in 1964. It has since made a comeback: in 2021, 2,484 babies were named Eliza, the most in any year, and in 2025 it ranked 115th with 2,370 babies.
Pronunciation
Spanish
- Pronunced as eh-LEE-thah (/eˈlita/)
Italian
- Pronunced as eh-LEE-tsah (/eˈlitsa/)
British English
- Pronunced as ih-LIE-zuh (/ɪˈlaɪzə/)
American English
- Pronunced as uh-LIE-zuh (/əˈlaɪzə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Eliza
| Eliza Dushku is an American former actress and current therapist known for playing Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, leading Tru Calling and Dollhouse, and producing Dollhouse. |
| Eliza Emily Porter, the first public school teacher in Chicago, founded teacher training schools, educated settlers and Native people, aided Civil War wounded with the US Sanitary Commission, supported the Underground Railroad, and taught freed people. |
| Eliza Taylor is an Australian actress best known for playing Janae Timmins on Neighbours, Clarke Griffin on The 100, and Hannah Carson on Quantum Leap. |
| Eliza Ann Ashton was an English-born Australian journalist and social reformer who wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Telegraph under the pen names Faustine and Mrs Julian Ashton, and was a founding member of the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales. |
| Eliza Jane Scanlen is an Australian actress who rose to fame in Home and Away and earned acclaim for playing troubled teens in the HBO series Sharp Objects and the BBC series Dope Girls. |
| Eliza Simmons Bryant was an American humanitarian who aided formerly enslaved people in Cleveland and in 1896 founded the Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People, now Eliza Bryant Village. |
| Eliza Pearl Shippen was an American educator, founding member of Delta Sigma Theta, and English professor and Dean of Women at the University of the District of Columbia. |
| Born into slavery, Eliza Carpenter became the only African American jockey and racehorse owner in early Oklahoma, winning many races and much prize money over three decades. |
| Eliza Pickrell Routt was a pioneer for womens voting rights and the inaugural first lady of Colorado. |
| Eliza Boardman Burnz was a 19th century American shorthand pioneer whose simplified alphabet, based on Isaac Pitmans Phonography, became the subject of Mark Twains essay A Simplified Alphabet. |
