Elisha or a boy?

Is the biblical name [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] (pronounced like [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] but with a sh sound) ok to use for a boy or is it forever gonna be a girls name pronounced like [name_f]Alica[/name_f] (a-leash-a) ?

I really love it but not sure if a boy will forever have to tell people it is not a girls name.

To be honest, I’m not sure. I love it as el-I-sha on a boy, but on of my close friends is an a-leash-a who uses that spelling and as much as I love it, that’s where my mind goes right away.

That’s fair enough, I know a male [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] who pronounces it [name_f]El[/name_f]-I-Sha but I also know one girl who is [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] [name_f]El[/name_f]-ee-Sha so for me in my mind they are two seperate names as one is a variant of [name_f]Alica[/name_f] and one is a biblical name but I’m worried what others think.

This is how I perceive them. Two different things. I really like boy [name_u]Elisha[/name_u]. Not so much girl [name_f]Alicia[/name_f].

I don’t know… trying to decide the same thing myself.
Can you please view my thread and vote in my poll in the girls’ section? [name_u]Poll[/name_u]: Honoring Mother in [name_m]Law[/name_m] 2… [name_f]Sheila[/name_f]–>[name_u]Elisha[/name_u]?

http://https://nameberry.com/nametalk/threads/147266-Honoring-Mother-in-Law-2-Sheila-gt-Elisha

I know a baby boy [name_u]Elisha[/name_u]. His family is orthodox Jewish, so ancient biblical names, even if somewhat unusual, are more common. I think it’s beautiful. But admittedly, I’m not religious, and had never heard of it before them, so most people will take a second to get used to it. But… they’ll figure it out! :slight_smile:

Around here, [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] would definitely be a boy’s name.

When I first saw [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] on a girl, I thought it was the male biblical [name_u]Elisha[/name_u], but she pronounces it E-lee-sha. Personally, I think there’s enough ways of spelling [name_f]Alicia[/name_f] that [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] should remain [name_f]El[/name_f]-ice-sh for the boys.

You have made my night! :slight_smile: I was literally just having this discussion with my husband! We absolutely love the name [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] for a boy, and love the Bible story that goes with it. However, every time I seem to post anything online about [name_u]Elisha[/name_u], it seems to get quite a bit of controversy. I personally have never met any girl’s with the name [name_u]Elisha[/name_u], and was quite distressed to hear that so many people were negative about such a favourite boys name of mine.
So I’m so happy to see that there is someone else out there that loves the name as much as I do!
I think that [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] is a fantastic BOYS name, with a great meaning and a rich history, and hopefully those uninformed people will soon catch on :slight_smile:

It is fully a boys’ name, imo! I know a little boy named [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] nn [name_m]Eli[/name_m], and I just can’t get my mind to connect the spelling of [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] with the sound of [name_f]Alicia[/name_f]. It’s so rough and earthy and masculine to me! But that is because the Biblical prophet was, I think.

Since [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] is nearly in the top ten, I don’t think it will be too hard for people to accept [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] as a boy’s name. As a matter of fact, an [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] would probably be mistaken for [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] a lot…

I know a little boy [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] who’s about two, and his mom said they picked the combo [name_u]Elisha[/name_u] [name_u]Wade[/name_u] because they wanted a strong name for this boy. Though I’ve heard this spelling has been used for girls, I don’t know any girls named [name_u]Elisha[/name_u]. As southern.maple says, the popularity of [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] should make this soundalike easy to accept as masculine.

You have all made my night, where are all the it’s a girls name posters? Excellent I shall keep it I think :smiley:

Thank you. That’s how I look at it, too. I say go for it!

[name_u]Elisha[/name_u] is one of my top mn choices for a boy

Besides the actress, I’ve never heard of a girl [name_u]Elisha[/name_u]. [name_f]Alicia[/name_f] (and variants) is so dated that I wouldn’t expect to run into any little girls nowadays