Eliza (given name)
Eliza is a female given name in English, meaning "My God is an oath".
| Pronunciation | English (British): [ɪˈlaɪzə] English (US): [əˈlaɪzə] |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Hebrew |
| Meaning | "My God is an oath; joyful" |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Elisa, Élise, Elizabeth, Elle, Ellie, Lisa, Liza, Elissa, Elza, Aliza |
Etymology
The name first developed as a diminutive of Elizabeth[1] in the 16th century and its use as an independent name started in the 18th century. The name Elizabeth has been around since the Middle Ages, mainly popularised by the French (using the spelling Elisabeth). Elizabeth with a “z” is the typical spelling in English. Elizabeth is found in the Bible (Luke 1:57) as the mother of John the Baptist. Elizabeth became popularised during the late medieval period as a given name, mostly influenced by two saints – St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Elizabeth of Portugal. It was brought to England by the French and the English can be credited with the formation of Eliza as a hypocorism (the French use Élise). [2]
It may also be used as a variant of the Hebrew name Aliza, עַלִיזָה meaning "joyful".[3][4][5]
People with this name
- Eliza Bennett (born 1992), English actress
- Eliza Brightwen (1830-1906), Scottish naturalist
- Eliza Carthy (born 1975), folk singer
- Eliza Chulkhurst (1100–34 or 1500–34), conjoined twin
- Eliza Archard Conner (1838-1912), American journalist, lecturer, feminist
- Eliza Doolittle (singer) (born 1988), British singer
- Eliza Ann Dupuy (ca. 1814 – 1880), American author
- Eliza Dushku (born 1980), American actress
- Eliza Lee Cabot Follen (1787–1860), American writer, editor, abolitionist
- Eliza Fraser (c.1798–1858), Scottish woman after whom Fraser Island in Australia is named
- Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler Hamilton (1757–1854), American philanthropist and wife of United States Founding Father Alexander Hamilton
- Eliza Putnam Heaton (1860-1919), American journalist, editor
- Eliza Trask Hill (1840–1908), American activist, journalist, philanthropist
- Eliza Hamilton Holly (1799–1859), seventh child and second daughter of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
- Eliza D. Keith (1854-1939), American educator, suffragist, journalist
- Eliza Maria Mosher (1846–1928), American physician, educator, medical writer, inventor
- Eliza Monroe Hay (1786–1840), American socialite and acting First Lady
- Eliza O'Flaherty (1818–1882) Australian writer and stage actress
- Eliza Orzeszkowa (1841–1910), Polish writer nominated for the Nobel prize
- Eliza A. Pittsinger (1837-1908), American poet
- Eliza Sam (born 1984), Canadian actress based in Hong Kong
- Eliza Seymour Lee (1800–1874), American pastry chef and restaurateur
- Eliza Soutsou (1837–1887), Greek writer and translator
- Eliza Taylor-Cotter (born 1989), Australian actress
- Eliza Townsend (1788-1854), American poet
Fictional characters
Characters in literary and screen works known solely as Eliza include:
- Eliza (Uncle Tom's Cabin), a slave from Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Eliza (Stephenson character), a socialite from Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle of novels
- Eliza, the wife in the Eliza series of novels by Barry Pain
- Eliza, a ghost child in short film Tormented
- Eliza, love interest of Faust VIII in the manga Shaman King
- Eliza, a female narcoleptic vampire from the Tekken series
- Eliza, a singer, model and diva from Skullgirls
Characters that have the first name Eliza and a known last name include:
- Elizabeth "Eliza" Bennet in the novel Pride and Prejudice
- Elizabeth "Eliza" Doolittle in the play Pygmalion (played by Mrs. Patrick Campbell) and the musical inspired by it, My Fair Lady (played on stage by Julie Andrews and in the film by Audrey Hepburn)
- Eliza and Neil was a second boss in Fantastic Parodius and Otomedius.
- Eliza Fletcher, a character in the Phineas and Ferb episode My Fair Goalie who was inspired by Eliza Doolittle.
- Eliza Thornberry, voiced by Lacey Chabert in The Wild Thornberrys
- Eliza Makepeace, one of the main characters in The Forgotten Garden, from Australian author Kate Morton
- Eliza Ritzjoy G. Dela Cruz from Philippines
- Eliza Danvers, Kara Danvers/Supergirl's foster mother in Supergirl (TV series), played by Helen Slater
- Eliza Cohen, a female FBI SWAT operator from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
- Eliza Fisher, a main character debuting in the second and final season of Siren in which she is a blonde mermaid
- Eliza Cassan, one of the news reporters seen in the Deus Ex videogame saga.
See also
- Eliza (disambiguation) - other meanings