Elazar is a Hebrew biblical name meaning 'God has helped.'
Elazar (אֶלְעָזָר) is among the most venerable names in the Hebrew canon, constructed from two elemental components: 'El' (אֵל), the Hebrew word for God, and 'azar' (עָזַר), meaning 'to help.' Together they yield the declaration 'God has helped' — a name that reads as both gratitude and faith, spoken in the perfect tense as if the divine assistance is already accomplished. This grammatical confidence gives the name a theological depth that its close relative Eleazar (the Hellenized form) has carried into Western traditions for millennia.
In the Hebrew Bible, Elazar appears as the third son of Aaron and the nephew of Moses, who succeeds his father as High Priest of Israel — making him one of the pivotal religious figures of the Exodus narrative. Later biblical tradition records multiple men of this name, including one of King David's three mighty warriors who held a barley field alone against the Philistines. In the Second Temple period, the name grew in stature: Elazar ben Mattityahu was among the Maccabee brothers whose revolt against Seleucid rule became the origin story of Hanukkah.
Elazar ben Yair led the Jewish defenders at Masada in 73 CE, delivering, according to Josephus, one of antiquity's most searingly documented speeches before the fortress fell. Through the medieval period, Elazar flourished in Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities alike, carried forward by scholars and rabbis who ensured its continuity. Today it is experiencing a quiet but meaningful revival both in Israel and in diaspora Jewish communities, favored for its ancient authenticity over the slightly softened Eleazar. For non-Jewish parents drawn to Hebrew names, Elazar offers a form that feels both unfamiliar enough to be striking and deep enough to reward curiosity.