How to Write Elijah in Cursive

Your name in school cursive with the capital, the joins and the tricky spots explained, plus a printable practice sheet.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · October 2026 · How we review content

"Elijah" in Playwrite US Trad, a typeface modelled on traditional school cursive.

Elijah is a name with two i-style dots and a descender in the middle: E, l, i, j, a, h. The i and j sit next to each other, each needing its own dot, and the j drops below the baseline before the a. It is a longer name that rewards steady spacing more than speed.

Copy and paste "Elijah" in cursive

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Letter by letter

Each distinct letter in "Elijah" has its own stroke-by-stroke page.

The joins in Elijah

El: The E finishes at the baseline and the l begins as an upstroke from there. Rise to the top line, loop narrowly and come down. The l should be taller than the E middle waistline.
li: The l leaves at the baseline and rises into a short i. Drop the stem and exit at the baseline. Do not dot yet.
ij: Two stems side by side: the i exits low and leads into the j, which starts like another i and drops below the baseline. Keep the j stem the same slant as the i.
ja: The j finishes its tail loop at the baseline and the exit rises into the a oval. Close the oval at the top and retrace down.

Tricky spots

Two dots: Both the i and the j need a dot. Add them after the whole name is written, each directly above its own stem.
The j loop under the line: Keep the descender loop narrow so it does not hit the line below.
The tall l vs h: Elijah has two tall letters, l and h. Keep their heights equal so the name does not look uneven.

The capital E

Capital E is made with two stacked loops that look like a reversed 3: a smaller loop on top, a larger one below. It connects, and the last stroke curls off at the baseline into the l. Keep the E loops round and the exit short. In this name, the next letter is tall, so you do not want the E exit rising too early.

Elijah as a signature

In a signature, the E can be generous and the lij middle can compress into a series of upright strokes. Keep one dot for the i and one for the j, because dropping both makes the middle of the name hard to read. End the h with a rising tail.

Short forms of Elijah

The usual short form is Eli. Writing Eli means only the first three letters: the E loop, the l and the i, which you practise anyway for Elijah.

As a tattoo

Elijah is a long name, so make sure the tattoo is big enough that the narrow loops on the l and h stay open. Keep spacing between the i and j and ask for a clear dot over each. The j descender should be given enough room below the line.

Printable practice sheet

Trace the grey letters, then write your own on the empty lines. Prints on one page (Letter or A4).

Cursive practice: Elijah

Name: ____________________ coolletteringgenerator.com

Copy-paste versions of Elijah

Script ℰ𝓁𝒾𝒿𝒶𝒽 and bold script 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓳𝓪𝓱 are generated by code from the Unicode mathematical script blocks, so you can paste either one anywhere that accepts Unicode text. The borrowed glyph here is the opening ℰ (U+2130), which comes from the Letterlike Symbols block, so the capital can look lighter or differently slanted than the 𝓁𝒾𝒿𝒶𝒽 after it. The rest of the six letters are standard script. Bold script gives a capital that matches its neighbours.

Elijah in cursive: questions

How do you write Elijah in cursive?

Make a capital E with two loops, run into a tall l, then a short i and a j that drops below the baseline. Continue into an a and finish with a looped h. Dot the i and the j at the end of the name. The E is the only capital, so after the first two strokes the rest of the name can be written in one flowing line.

Does the capital E connect in cursive?

Yes. Traditional capital E ends in a small curl at the baseline that leads into the next letter. For Elijah, that exit becomes the start of the l loop, so you can write E and l without lifting. Keep the exit short so the l loop can start right away.

How do you write the j in cursive?

Climb from the baseline to the midline like an i, then drop a straight stroke below the baseline and loop back up to the left. It joins on both sides and takes its dot after the word is finished. Practise the j on its own first, since the descender loop is the only unusual stroke in the name.