Only in Hippolytus and Epiphanius, the name "Elchasai"/"Elxai" begins with eta. In the other patristic Greek texts, the opening vowel is epsilon. The name of the sect is always (also in Epiphanius, see below) spelled with epsilon. This is noteworthy if we bear in mind that at the time the eta was commonly pronounced as i (itacism).[1] The difference under discussion is therefore more significant than the usual transcriptions in modern languages might suggest ... we may take it for granted that the eta-spelling of the name "Elchasai"/"Elxai" is attested by the earlier patristic reports (Hippolytus and Epiphanius; two independent witnesses, cf. above, pp. 174f), while the name-forms with epsilon occur in later sources.
[Gerard P. Luttikhuizen, the Revelation of Elchasai p. 180]
[1] Cf. F. Blass, A. Debrunner, F. Rehkopf, Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, 15th ed. 1979, §24
Stephan Huller has had a life long interest in religion and spirituality 
dating back to conversations with his grandfather, Gaston Frank. "He said we represent one of the last descendants of the Frankist Jewish faith in the world," he muses. "I grew up thinking that our family was something like the Last of the Mohicans."