Eliot is a spelling of Elliott, an English surname that developed from the medieval given name Elias, the Greek form of Elijah, which means "my God is Yahweh". The single-l, single-t spelling is the one used by the poet T. S. Eliot. In the United States Eliot entered the top 1000 in 2010, peaked at number 943 in 2012 and has drifted back out, standing at number 1403 in 2025, while Elliott and Elliot remain far more common.