Elihu is a masculine given name. Bearers of the name include:

People

Elihu Abrahams Elihu Abrahams (April 3, 1927 – October 18, 2018) was a theoretical physicist, specializing in condensed matter physics. Abrahams attended Brooklyn Technical High School, graduating in 1944. In 1947, Abrahams received his bachelor's degree and ...

(1927–2018), American theoretical physicist * Elihu Anthony (1818–1905), American alcalde, blacksmith, industrialist, abolitionist *

Elihu Burritt Elihu Burritt (December 8, 1810March 6, 1879) was an American diplomat, philanthropist, social activist, and blacksmith.Arthur Weinberg and Lila Shaffer Weinberg. ''Instead of Violence: Writings by the Great Advocates of Peace and Nonviolence Thr ...

(1811–1879), American philanthropist, linguist, and social activist *

Elihu Doty Elihu Doty (20 September 1809 – 30 November 1864) was an American missionary to China. He was responsible for the first textbook of Southern Min in English. Along with John Van Nest Talmage he is credited with the invention of Pe̍h-ōe-jī, t ...

(1809–1864), American missionary to China *

Elihu Embree Elihu Embree (November 11, 1782 – December 4, 1820) was an abolitionist in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and publisher of ''Manumission Intelligencier'' (later renamed as ''The Emancipator''). Founded in 1819, it was the first newspaper in the United ...

(1782–1820), American abolitionist and publisher of the first newspaper in the United States devoted exclusively to that cause * Elihu Goodsell (1806–1880), American politician *

Elihu Harris Elihu Mason Harris (born August 15, 1947) is a retired American politician and college administrator. A member of the Democratic Party, Harris served as the 46th Mayor of Oakland, California from 1991 to 1999; he previously served for 12 years ...

(born 1947), mayor of Oakland, California, United States * Elihu B. Hayes (1848–1903), American shoe manufacturer, newspaper owner, and politician * Elihu Emory Jackson (1837–1907), American businessman and politician, 41st governor of Maryland, United States *

Elihu Katz Elihu Katz (; 21 May 1926 – 31 December 2021) was an American-Israeli sociologist and communication scientist whose expertise was uses and gratifications theory. He authored over 20 books and 175 articles and book chapters during his lifeti ...

(1926–2021), American-Israeli sociologist *

Elihu Lauterpacht Sir Elihu Lauterpacht (13 July 1928 – 8 February 2017) was a British academic and lawyer, who specialized in international law. The son of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, he was founder of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the law facul ...

(1928–2017), British academic and lawyer * Elihu H. Mason (1831–1896), Union Army soldier in the American Civil War awarded the Medal of Honor for his part in the Great Locomotive Chase * E. Spencer Miller (1817–1879), American dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School * Elihu Palmer (1764–1806), founder of the Deistical Society of New York *

Elihu Phillips Elihu Lyman Phillips (February 16, 1800January 10, 1884) was an American businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Fond du Lac County during the 1860 and 1861 sessions, and ea ...

(1800–1884), American businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer *

Elihu Roberts Elihu D. Roberts (August 2, 1897 – March 23, 1975) was an American Negro league outfielder between 1916 and 1920. A native of Valdosta, Georgia, Roberts attended Morris Brown College. He made his Negro leagues debut in 1916 with the Bachar ...

(1897–1975), American Negro league baseball outfielder *

Elihu Root Elihu Root (; February 15, 1845February 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, Republican Party (United States), Republican politician, and statesman who served as the 41st United States Secretary of War under presidents William McKinley and Theodor ...

(1845–1937), American statesman and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize *

Elihu Thomson Elihu Thomson (March 29, 1853 – March 13, 1937) was an English-American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electricity, electrical companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Early life He ...

(1853–1937), English-born American engineer and inventor instrumental in the founding of electrical companies *

Elihu Vedder Elihu Vedder (26 February 183629 January 1923) was an American symbolist painter, book illustrator and poet from New York City. He is best known for his fifty-five illustrations for Edward FitzGerald's translation of '' The Rubaiyat of Omar Kh ...

(1836–1923), American painter, book illustrator, and poet * Elihu B. Washburne (1816–1887), American politician and a founder of Republican Party * Elihu S. Williams (1835–1903), American farmer, lawyer, soldier, and politician *

Elihu Yale Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British Americans, British-American Colonialism, colonial administrator. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, a ...

(1649–1721), British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist, benefactor of Yale University

Biblical figures

Elihu (Job) Elihu ( ''’Ĕlīhū’'', 'my God is he') is a critic of Job and his three friends in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He is said to have been the son of Barachel and a descendant of Buz, who may have been from the line of Abraham (Genesis 22:2 ...

, a speaker who challenges Job in the Book of Job (chapters 32–37) * an

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

ite and grandfather to

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

(mentioned in 1 Samuel 1:1) * a brother of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:6) * a chief of the

Tribe of Manasseh According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh (; Hebrew: ''Ševet Mənašše,'' Tiberian: ''Šēḇeṭ Mănašše'') was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. After the catastrophic Assyrian invasion of 720 BCE, it is counted as one ...

(1 Chronicles 12:21) * a

Korah Korah ( ''Qōraḥ''; ''Qārūn''), son of Izhar, is an individual who appears in the Biblical Book of Numbers of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and four different verses in the Quran, known for leading a rebellion against Moses. Some olde ...

ite (1 Chronicles 26:7)

Fictional characters

*Judge Elihu Smails, co-founder of the Bushwood Country Club, in the film ''

Caddyshack ''Caddyshack'' is a 1980 American sports comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney, and starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight (his final film role), Michael O'Keefe and Bill ...

'' *Elihu Willsson, a leading character in Dashiell Hammett's novel ''

Red Harvest ''Red Harvest'' ( 1929) is a novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. The story is narrated by the Continental Op, a frequent character in Hammett's fiction, much of which is drawn from his own experiences as an operative of the Pinkerton ...

'' *Elihu Yale, the Atlanta Police Chief in Tom Wolfe's novel ''

A Man in Full ''A Man in Full'' is the second novel by Tom Wolfe, published on November 12, 1998, by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. It is set primarily in Atlanta, with a significant portion of the story also taking place in the East Bay region of the San Francisc ...

'' *Elihu "Sam" Nivens, the protagonist in Robert A. Heinlein's ''

The Puppet Masters ''The Puppet Masters'' is a 1951 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space. It was originally serialized in ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' (September, Oct ...

'' *Elihu Whipple, one of the two main characters in the H. P. Lovecraft short story "

The Shunned House "The Shunned House" is a horror fiction novelette by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written on October 16–19, 1924. It was first published in the October 1937 issue of ''Weird Tales''. Inspiration The Shunned House of the title is base ...

" {{given name Masculine given names