Ilai

Ilai comes from Hebrew. The root עלה (ala) means to rise or to ascend, which gives the name its sense of ascending, exalted. Short name, steep climb built in.

The oldest bearer we can name is Rabbi Ilai, a second-century Tanna sage. He is cited once in the Mishnah and appears in the Tosefta. His son, Judah ben Ilai, became one of the most quoted teachers in the Mishnah, so the name reached later readers through a father and son.

A devotional reading, mój bóg jest jahwe, my God is Yahweh, was fastened to the name later, drawn toward it by its closeness to Eliasz. That gloss tells you how the name was heard. It does not tell you where the name began.

On a Polish class register, Ilai would sit near Ilan and Eliasz, a two-syllable entry with the accent forward and the Hebrew root for ascending under it.