Elohim is the Hebrew word used for God in the Bible, with roots implying divine power and majesty.
Elohim is one of the oldest and most theologically significant words in the Hebrew Bible, appearing in the very first verse of Genesis: 'In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth.' It is the primary Hebrew word for God in the Torah, used thousands of times, and its linguistic structure has fascinated scholars for millennia — it takes a plural form (the -im suffix marks Hebrew masculine plural) but consistently takes singular verbs, a grammatical paradox that theologians and linguists have debated endlessly. Some interpret this as a 'plural of majesty,' others as an echo of pre-monotheistic traditions; still others see it as encoding the multidimensional nature of divinity itself.
The root El is one of the most ancient Semitic divine names, appearing across Canaanite, Phoenician, Aramaic, and Arabic traditions (Allah shares this root). Elohim thus stands at the very center of the Abrahamic family of religious traditions, a word that predates the divisions between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, Elohim is associated with the divine attribute of Gevurah — strength and judgment — one of the ten Sefirot that structure mystical understanding of God's nature.
As a given name, Elohim is rare and carries enormous weight. It is used primarily in certain Latin American communities, particularly in Colombia and Mexico, where deep religious devotion sometimes leads parents toward names of direct divine reference — a pattern also seen with names like Emanuel and Angel. The name is striking precisely because of its audacity: it does not invoke a saint, a hero, or a biblical figure, but the divine name itself. In communities where it is used, it is understood as an act of devotion and a profound hope placed upon a child.