Elsie

Elsie meaning

Elsie is an international and Christian girl's name of Hebrew origin (Scottish pet form).

Pet form of Elspeth (Elizabeth): Hebrew Elisheba, 'God of the oath'

Also used to mean: pledged to God, God is my oath

Elsie began in Scotland as a pet form of Elspeth, the Scots form of Elizabeth. Elizabeth goes back to the Hebrew Elisheba, which Strong's concordance explains as "God of the oath", from ʾel, "God", and a verb meaning to swear; the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon puts it as "God is an oath". In the Bible Elisheba is the wife of Aaron, and the New Testament Elisabeth is the mother of John the Baptist. Name lists give Elsie as "pledged to God", which matches. It has an old-fashioned, cheerful feel, and like Elsa it is easy to say in Indian languages.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, H472 · entry Eliysheba (אֱלִישֶׁבַע) · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's H472, Elisheba (biblehub.com) · Wikipedia, Elsie (given name)

Popularity abroad

• #123 United States, girls 2025 (up 32 from 155 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #8 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Elsie · Elsa · Elsy

Related names

Also meaning god

More names of Hebrew origin

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