Holding steady.
Popularity of Lige since 1880
Babies named Lige per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1915, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Lige's real moment was 1881.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 175 |
| 1890s | 159 |
| 1900s | 126 |
| 1910s | 215 |
| 1920s | 188 |
| 1930s | 130 |
| 1940s | 107 |
| 1950s | 82 |
| 1960s | 40 |
| 1970s | 21 |
| 1980s | 21 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 16 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Lige is a vintage nickname for Elijah that enjoyed modest use in the 1880s, with its peak year in 1881 according to Social Security records. After that peak, its usage declined steadily and it has not ranked in the top 1000 names for many decades. The name's trajectory shows a long period of stable but very low usage, with fewer than five annual births in recent years. As a southern American diminutive, Lige reflects the historical practice of shortening biblical names, a pattern common in the late 19th century. The name has not been recorded in top states data for recent years, underscoring its rarity.
Lige is a diminutive of Elijah, a Hebrew name derived from the elements 'El' (God) and 'Yah' (Yahweh), translating to 'my God is Yahweh'. As an independent nickname form, it was used predominantly in the southern United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries, often as a casual variant of the biblical name Elijah.
Nicknames & variants
Sibling names for Lige
Names that share Lige's style, for a brother or sister.
