Elizabeth

Hebrew
"pledged to God"

Elizabeth Origin and Meaning

The name Elizabeth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "pledged to God".

Elizabeth is one of the most popular girls' names of all time, the female equivalent of James or William. Yet Elizabeth has so much going for it—rich history, broad appeal, and timeless style—that no matter how many little girls are named Lizzie, Eliza, and Beth, you can still make Elizabeth your own.

Elizabeth is derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva, formed by the components ’el, meaning "God," and shava’, "oath." In the Bible, Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist, and two of England's most notable queens have been Elizabeth I and II. Another memorable bearer was Elizabeth Taylor—who hated to be called Liz.

Elizabeth nicknames on the table today include Libby, Bess, Tibby, and even the so-antiquated-it's-cool Betty. Also in play is the fashionable Eliza along with Lilibet, Queen Elizabeth's childhood nickname more recently used by Prince Harry and wife Meghan for their daughter, Lilibet Diana.

Author and publishing magnate Zibby Owens introduced her zippy Elizabeth nickname to the ever-lengthening list of variations.

There has been only one year since 1880 that Elizabeth slipped one place below the Top 25, and that was in 1945—when Betty was Number 11. Today, it holds fast as one of the most classic and usable girl names starting with E.

The Elisabeth spelling, found in several cultures, is represented by such notables as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth Shue, Elisabeth Moss, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Elisabeth is nicknamed Bethsy in Buddenbrooks, Bep in The Diary of Anne Frank, and Betsy in Wolverine.

# 15 in the US

Elizabeth Rank in US Top 1000

# 41 on Nameberry

Elizabeth Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Elizabeth Popularity

Famous People Named Elizabeth

  • Saint Elizabeth
    mother of John the Baptist
  • Elizabeth I
    Queen of England
  • Elizabeth II (born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary)
    Queen of the United Kingdom
  • Elizabeth Petrovna
    Empress of Russia
  • Elizabeth Woodville
    Queen consort of Edward IV of England
  • Elizabeth of York
    Queen consort of Henry VII of England
  • Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes
    Lyon, the Queen Mother, Queen consort of King George VI of the U.K.; mother of Queen Elizabeth II
  • Elizabeth of Austria
    Queen consort of Casimir IV of Poland
  • Elizabeth of Austria
    Queen consort of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland
  • Elizabeth of Bosnia
    Queen consort of Louis I of Hungary and Croatia
  • Elizabeth Stuart
    the Winter Queen, Queen consort of Frederick V of Bohemia
  • Elizabeth Alexeievna (born Louise of Baden)
    Empress consort of Alexander I of Russia
  • Saint Elizabeth of Aragon
    Queen consort of Denis of Portugal
  • Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton
    American educator and first U.S.,born saint
  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton
    American suffragist
  • Elizabeth "Betty" Parris
    accuser in the 1692 Salem witch trials
  • Elizabeth Arden (born Florence Nightingale Graham)
    American cosmetics business founder
  • Elizabeth Ann Warren
    US Senator from Massachusetts
  • Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
    former First Lady of the U.S. as wife of President James Monroe
  • Elizabeth Virginia "Bess" Truman
    former First Lady of the U.S. as wife of President Harry Truman
  • Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Ford
    former First Lady of the U.S. as wife of President Gerald Ford
  • Elizabeth Cavendish
    Duchess of Devonshire, English novelist
  • Elizabeth Caroline
    Princess of Great Britain; daughter of George II
  • Elizabeth
    Princess of the U.K.; daughter of George III; Landgravine of Hesse,Homburg
  • Elizabeth "Lizzy" Woolridge Grant
    birth name of singer Lana Del Rey
  • Elizabeth Jane Hurley
    English actress
  • Elizabeth Irene Banks
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Barrett Browning
    English poet
  • Elizabeth Bathory
    Hungarian countess and serial killer
  • (Mary) Elizabeth Anania Edwards
    American attorney; wife of politician John Edwards
  • Elizabeth Blackwell
    first woman physician in the U.S.
  • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
    English novelist
  • Elizabeth "Betsy" Griscom Ross
    sewer of the first American flag
  • Elizabeth Egan "Liz" Gillies
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
    wife of American politician Alexander Hamilton
  • Elizabeth Lee McGovern
    American actress
  • Elizabeth "Bitsie" Tulloch
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery
    American actress
  • Elizabeth "Beth" Kocianski aka Beth Phoenix
    American pro wrestler
  • Elizabeth Kimberly "Beth" Tweddle
    British gymnast
  • Elizabeth Karageorgevich
    Princess of Yugoslavia
  • Elizabeth
    Princess of Greece and Denmark; daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece
  • Elizabeth
    Princess of Sweden (Elisabet Gustavsdotter Vasa), Duchess consort of Mecklenburg,Gadebusch
  • Elizabeth Chase "Lizzie" Olsen
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Clark "Liz" Phair
    American singer,songwriter
  • Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Smith
    American gossip columnist
  • Elizabeth Larrieu "Liz" Torres
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Anne "Lizzy" Caplan
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Ann Perkins
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Mitchell (born Elizabeth Joanna Robertson)
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
    British,American actress
  • Elizabeth Kostova
    American novelist
  • (Susan) Elizabeth George
    English novelist
  • Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ognibene
    American child model
  • (Elizabeth) Melese Jow
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Helen "Betsy" McCaughey
    American politician
  • Elizabeth Margaret "Bessie" Braddock
    English politician
  • Elizabeth "Liza" Koshy
    American YouTuber
  • Hope Elizabeth "Liza" Soberano
    Filipino,American Actress
  • Elizabeth of Poland
    Duchess of Pomerania
  • Elizabeth Jean ''Busy'' Phillips
    American actress
  • Elizabeth Mae "Lizzy" Hale
    American lead singer of band Halestorm
  • Elizabeth Loaiza Junca
    Colombian model, beauty pageant winner and helicopter pilot
  • Elizabeth Ostrander
    American model
  • Elizabeth Debicki
    Australian actress
  • Elizabeth Wurst
    American Instagram and YouTube personality
  • Elizabeth Frances Henstridge
    English actress
  • Elizabeth Ann Hanks (b. 1982)
    daughter of actor Tom Hanks
  • Elizabeth Scarlett "Lizzy" Jagger(b. 1984)
    daughter of singer Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall
  • Elizabeth Allen Dick (b. 2009)
    daughter of American actor Tim Allen

Elizabeth in Pop Culture

  • Elizabeth "Lizzy" Bennet
    main character in Jane Austen's " Pride and Prejudice"
  • Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper
    a character from the Archie Comics universe and on TV's "Riverdale"
  • Elizabeth Lavenza
    character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
  • Elizabeth Johnson/The Countess
    in American Horror Story: Hotel
  • Elizabeth
    main character and in video game BioShock Infinite
  • Elizabeth Walton
    character on TV's "The Waltons"
  • Elizabeth Webber
    character on "General Hospital"
  • Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon
    main character on TV's "30 Rock"
  • Elizabeth Colton
    character in "Station Eleven"
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Forbes
    character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
  • Elizabeth "Effy" Stonem
    main character on British TV's "Skins"
  • Elizabeth "Lizzie" McGuire
    main character in Disney's "Lizzie McGuire"
  • Elizabeth "Lizzie" Saltzman
    character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries", daughter of Alaric Saltzman
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Adams
    character on TV's "Dallas"
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Toomes
    character in Spider,Man: Homecoming and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
  • Elizabeth "Betty" Ross
    character in Marvel Universe
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Burton
    character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
  • Elizabeth Jayne "Liz" McDonald
    character on British soap "Coronation Street"
  • Dr. Elizabeth M. Shaw
    character in "Alien" series
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw
    companion on TV's "Doctor Who"
  • Elizabeth "Lizbeth" Morgan
    a character in "The 5th Wave" book series by Rick Yancey
  • Elizabeth Dunn
    character in "The Hole" and "After the Hole"
  • Elizabeth
    character in the video game Final Fantasy XII
  • Elizabeth "Bess" Marvin
    character in the Nancy Drew series
  • Elizabeth Gertrude "Bessie" Bunter
    character in stories by Charles Hamilton
  • Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer
    Character on "One Tree Hill"
  • Elizabeth "Bess" McCord
    main character of TV's "Madam Secretary"
  • Elizabeth Cole
    an American Girl doll whose story takes place during the American Revolution; Felicity Merriman's best friend
  • Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock aka Psylocke
    Marvel comics character
  • Elizabeth Swann
    main character in "The Pirates of the Caribbean" films
  • Elizabeth Blair
    main character in film "Curly Top"
  • Elizabeth Drosselmayer
    character in animated movie "Barbie in the Nutcracker"
  • Elizabeth "Batty" Penderwick
    character in Jeanne Birdsill's "The Penderwicks"
  • Elizabeth Thatcher
    character in TV series "When Calls the Heart"
  • Elizabeth "Lisa Lisa" Joestar
    a main character in "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure"
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Wilson
    character in the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis , Veterinarian & Girlfriend
  • Elizabeth Josephine 'Lizzie' Birdsworth
    character in Australian soap 'Prisoner Cell Block H'
  • Elizabeth Halsey
    main character played by Cameron Diaz in the 2011 Film "Bad Teacher"
  • Elizabeth Cutler
    character on the TV series "Star Trek: Enterprise"
  • Elizabeth
    character in the 2019 film "Hustlers" played by Julia Stiles
  • Elizabeth Thomas
    Brewer, character in book and TV series, "Baby,Sitters Club"
  • Elizabeth Grace "Gracie" Schafer
    character in book series, "Baby,Sitters Club"
  • Elizabeth "Bess" McCord
    main character of TV's "Madam Secretary"
  • Elizabeth "Betty" Suarez
    main character of "Ugly Betty"
  • Elizabeth "Beth" March
    character in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women
  • Elizabeth "Bess" Laurence
    character in Louisa May Alcott's Little Men, and Jo's Boys
  • Dr. Elizabeth Weir
    character in the TV show "Stargate: Atlantis"
  • Elizabeth 'Betty' Draper Francis née Hofstadt
    character in TV Show 'Mad Men', played by January Jones.

Elizabeth in Nameberry Blog Posts