Elisheba

Meaning & origin

Elisheba is the original Hebrew name behind the more familiar Elizabeth, appearing in the Old Testament as the wife of Aaron. Despite its ancient pedigree, the name has been exceedingly rare in the United States, with first recorded usage for a newborn in 1974. As of 2025, it ranked 10,917, with a 1-in-200,908 incidence, indicating fewer than 20 newborn girls received the name that year. Its popularity peaked in 2017, and since 2009 the name has been on a gradual upward trajectory in usage, though it remains a deeply uncommon choice. Elisheba has no recorded association with any specific U.S. state as a top name, underscoring its status as a distinctive, found-only-by-the-determined biblical alternative to Elizabeth or Isabella.

Elisheba is the original Hebrew form of Elizabeth, derived from the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Elisheva), meaning "my God is an oath" or "God is my oath." In the Old Testament, Elisheba was the wife of Aaron, the mother of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The name appears in Exodus 6:23 and is the earliest biblical attestation of the name that later evolved into Elizabeth through Greek and Latin transliteration.