Esau
Hebrew biblical name from "hairy, rough"
Name Census estimates that about 2,301 living Americans carry the first name Esau. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Esau today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esau births was 2007 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esau. 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.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 148,959 Americans
Peak year
2007
82 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,055
Tracked since 1880
Census
Esau in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,015 people with the first name Esau, which placed it at #5,617 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
#5,617
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,015 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
75.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Esau
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esau is Hispanic at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and White (4.2%). 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 Esau 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 Esau at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino75.3% · 2,269
- Black or African American15.8% · 477
- White4.2% · 126
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 76
- Two or more races1.4% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 24
Popularity
Esau: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Esau from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 644 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Esau 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 Esau during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Esaus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Esau, while Oregon, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 109 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Esau
The given name Esau has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Biblical Hebrew word 'asah', meaning 'hairy' or 'rough'. The name first appears in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where Esau is the eldest son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the twin brother of Jacob.
In the Biblical narrative, Esau is described as a skilled hunter and a man of the fields, in contrast to his brother Jacob who is portrayed as a more domestic figure. The name Esau is associated with his hairy appearance at birth, which is described in Genesis 25:25 as "red and hairy like a garment of hair".
The story of Esau and Jacob is a significant one in the Abrahamic religions, as it involves the transfer of the birthright from Esau to Jacob, which ultimately leads to the establishment of the Israelite nation through Jacob's lineage. This tale has been widely interpreted and studied, with Esau's character often seen as representing the physical or worldly aspects of human nature.
One of the earliest recorded individuals named Esau is the Biblical figure himself, whose life is estimated to have taken place around the 18th or 17th century BCE, according to traditional dating. Other notable historical figures bearing the name Esau include:
1. Esau Eccles (1672-1735), an English Baptist minister and author.
2. Esau Edwards (1768-1819), an American Baptist minister and abolitionist.
3. Esau Kahn (1914-1999), a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician.
4. Esau Jenkins (1808-1898), an African American teacher and civil rights activist on Johns Island, South Carolina.
5. Esau Priddy (1807-1859), an American Baptist minister and educator in Kentucky.
While the name Esau has its roots in the Hebrew Bible, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and religious traditions over the centuries, often as a way of honoring the Biblical figure or connecting to the rich symbolism and narrative associated with his story.
People
Esau + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esau 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
Esau: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esau?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,301 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esau 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 148,959 US residents.
Is Esau a common name?
We classify Esau as "Rare". It ranks above 94.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,939 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esau most popular?
The single biggest year for Esau was 2007, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esau is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Esau in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,015 people with the name Esau, or 1.00 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,617 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 Esau 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 Esau?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esau appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,018 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Esau?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esau is Hispanic at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and White (4.2%). 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 Esau most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Esau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.3% (2,269 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 Esau in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esau a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Esau 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 Esau still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esau 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 Esau 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 many people are named Esau?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.