Esai
A masculine Spanish name derived from the Hebrew name Isaiah, meaning "Yahweh is salvation".
Name Census estimates that about 2,338 living Americans carry the first name Esai. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Esai today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esai births was 2024 (117 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esai. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Esai is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 146,602 Americans
Peak year
2024
117 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,514
Tracked since 1987
Census
Esai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,651 people with the first name Esai, which placed it at #8,710 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,710
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,651 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Esai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esai is Hispanic at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and White (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Esai described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Esai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.3% · 1,475
- Black or African American4.3% · 71
- White2.4% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 33
- Two or more races1.1% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 15
Popularity
Esai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Esai from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 763 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Esai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Esai by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Esai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Esais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Esai, while Washington, Virginia, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 91 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Esai
The name Esai originates from the Hebrew language and culture, with roots dating back to biblical times. It is a variant spelling of the name Isaiah, which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "the Lord is salvation" in Hebrew.
The name Esai is derived from the Hebrew word "yesha'yahu," which is composed of two parts: "yesha" meaning "salvation" and "yahu" being a shortened form of the divine name "Yahweh." This name's origins can be traced back to the Old Testament, where it was borne by the prophet Isaiah, one of the most prominent figures in the Hebrew Bible.
In the Book of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah played a crucial role in conveying God's messages to the people of Israel during the 8th century BCE. His prophecies and teachings were widely influential in shaping the religious and cultural landscape of ancient Israel.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Esai can be found in the Book of Ezra, a biblical text written around the 5th century BCE. In Ezra 8:19, a man named Esai is mentioned as one of the Levites who accompanied Ezra on his journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Esai. One of the most famous was Esai Bulenger (1530-1594), a French Protestant theologian and scholar known for his writings on biblical interpretation and church history.
Another notable figure was Esai Colon (c. 1450-1515), a Spanish navigator and explorer who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. Colon played a significant role in the early exploration and colonization of the Caribbean region.
In the realm of literature, Esai Saidullah (1603-1680) was a renowned Persian poet and scholar from Iran. His poetic works, including the epic poem "Ganjnameh," earned him widespread acclaim and recognition in the Persian literary tradition.
During the 18th century, Esai Gaudillière (1708-1784) was a prominent French architect and urban planner. He is best known for his contributions to the redesign and reconstruction of the city of Rennes in northwestern France.
Lastly, Esai Duran (1857-1944) was a Venezuelan writer, journalist, and political activist who played a significant role in the country's literary and intellectual circles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Esai throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures, disciplines, and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Esai
People
Esai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esai as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Esai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,338 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esai going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 146,602 US residents.
Is Esai a common name?
We classify Esai as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esai most popular?
The single biggest year for Esai was 2024, when 117 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esai is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Esai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,651 people with the name Esai, or 0.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,710 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Esai in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Esai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esai leans strongly male. 1,632 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 22 female bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Esai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esai is Hispanic at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and White (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Esai most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Esai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.3% (1,475 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Esai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esai a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Esai in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Esai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esai in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Esai can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Esai?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.