Eli

Eli derives from the Hebrew name Elî, meaning my God or possibly high, exalted, and appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of a high priest of Shiloh who served as a mentor to the young prophet Samuel. The name has been used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation, when biblical names gained widespread popularity, and saw particular favor among Puritan settlers in early America. In Spanish and Scandinavian traditions, Eli functions as a feminine short form of names such as Elisabeth or Elisa. Kurdish ʿElî is a separate but related form reflecting the same Semitic root transmitted through Arabic and Islamic cultural influence.