boy's name
Ilyes
ee-LYES
- Origin Arabic
- Gender Boy
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (France)
- Births on record 25,028
France
#107
2025 births
Ilyes is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, the Arabic form of Elijah, who is named in the Quran as a prophet who called his people away from Baal. It ranks 107th in France and is stable in our data.
- Ilyes is a name of Arabic origin.
- Peaked in France in 2012, when 1,315 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,072 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1977.
Ilyes over time
Births per decade in France, 1970s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 5 |
| 1980s | 135 |
| 1990s | 1,020 |
| 2000s | 6,530 |
| 2010s | 11,970 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,770 |
What Ilyes means
Ilyes means my God is the Lord, inherited from the Hebrew Eliyahu through Arabic. The compound joins Eli, my God, with Yah, a form of the divine name, and the sense survives the journey through three languages unchanged.
Where Ilyes comes from
Ilyes is a French spelling of the Arabic Ilyas, itself from the Hebrew Eliyahu by way of the Greek Elias. Ilyas is named in the Quran among the prophets, in sura 6 and again in sura 37, where he calls his people away from the worship of Baal — the same confrontation the Hebrew Bible records on Mount Carmel. Because the name passed through Greek before reaching Arabic, it carries the Greek ending rather than the Hebrew one, which is why Ilyas and Eliyahu look less alike than they are. French records hold Ilyes, Ilyas, Iliyes and Elyes as separate spellings, a spread typical of Arabic names entering a Latin alphabet. It is unrelated to the Welsh Elis or the English Ellis, which come from the same Elias by a different route.
Ilyes in use
Ilyes ranks 107th in France with about 650 births in 2025 and is stable in our data with a peak in 2012. Our records carry it from 1977, placing it with the generation of Arabic names that entered French registers in the 1970s rather than the more recent wave. Outside France it is rare — 3,645th in England and Wales — partly because Britain spells the same name Ilyas.
How popular is Ilyes?
In 2025, Ilyes was given to 550 babies in France, ranking #107 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Ilyes is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Ilyes is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Ilyès | Ilyès is Ilyes written with a grave accent, used in France, where it ranks #467. | 2,625 |
| Ilyés | Ilyés is a rare spelling of Ilyes, written with an acute accent and recorded about 180 times, mostly in France. | 180 |
| Ilyës | Ilyës is a rare spelling of Ilyes, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Ilyes
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ilyes also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ilyes over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ilyes in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Ilyes
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ilyes — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ilyes
What does the name Ilyes mean?
Ilyes means "my God is the Lord," inherited from the Hebrew Eliyahu through Arabic.
Is Ilyes the Arabic for Elijah?
Yes. Ilyas is named in the Quran among the prophets, and it reached Arabic through the Greek Elias.
What is the difference between Ilyes and Ilyas?
Only spelling. Ilyes is the more common French rendering; Ilyas is standard in Britain.
How popular is Ilyes?
107th in France.
Is Ilyes a girl's or a boy's name?
Ilyes is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
Is Ilyes a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ilyes currently ranks #107 in France. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.