Ilia is the Russian and Georgian form of Elijah, the Hebrew prophet's name that means "my God is Yahweh", and it is also close to the Greek Ilias. Americans have come to know it through the figure skater Ilia Malinin, the first to land a quadruple axel, which helps explain the recent rise. Ilia has jumped from number 11041 in 2000 to number 2430 in 2025, its best US rank so far.