Origin of the name Elias: A borrowing from the Greek, Elias is a cognate of the Hebrew Eliyahu, which is derived from 'Ä“lÄ«yÄhÅ« (Jehovah is God). The name is a variant of Elijah, the name borne in the Bible by a prophet of Israel in the 9th century B.C. From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman.Buy the book.
In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, /ɔːˈdʒiːəs/, Greek: Αὐγείας), whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts.