Esequiel
A Hebrew name meaning "God strengthens" or "God fortifies".
Name Census estimates that about 2,280 living Americans carry the first name Esequiel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Esequiel today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esequiel births was 1974 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esequiel. 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 150,331 Americans
Peak year
1974
59 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,714
Tracked since 1881
Census
Esequiel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,385 people with the first name Esequiel, which placed it at #6,663 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
#6,663
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,385 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Esequiel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esequiel is Hispanic at 97.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Esequiel 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 Esequiel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.3% · 2,321
- White1.8% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
- Black or African American0.2% · 4
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Esequiel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Esequiel from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 447 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Esequiel 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 Esequiel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Esequiels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Esequiel, while Florida, Illinois, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 320 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Esequiel
The name Esequiel is a Spanish and Portuguese form of the Hebrew name Ezekiel, which means "God strengthens" or "God will strengthen." It has its origins in ancient Israel and can be traced back to the biblical prophet Ezekiel, who lived in the 6th century BCE.
Ezekiel was one of the major prophets in the Hebrew Bible and was known for his vivid prophecies and visions. The Book of Ezekiel, which is part of the Old Testament, recounts his prophetic messages and experiences during the Babylonian exile of the Israelites. Ezekiel's name became associated with strength, courage, and divine support, which contributed to its enduring popularity as a given name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ezequiel in its Spanish form dates back to the 13th century, when it appeared in historical records and documents from Spain and Portugal. This was likely influenced by the spread of Christianity and the translation of the Bible into various languages, including Spanish and Portuguese.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Esequiel. One of the earliest examples is Esequiel de Molina (c. 1470-1529), a Spanish theologian and philosopher known for his work on the rights of indigenous peoples in the Americas. Another prominent figure was Esequiel Navarro (1844-1920), a Chilean politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the 20th century, Esequiel Padilla (1890-1951) was a Mexican composer and musician who played a significant role in the development of Mexican folk music. Esequiel Hernández (1971-1997) was a young American citizen killed by US Marines in a controversial incident near the Texas-Mexico border, which sparked debates about border security and the use of force.
Esequiel Muñoz (born 1987) is a contemporary Spanish actor and model known for his roles in television series and films. He is one of the more recent public figures to carry the name Esequiel, reflecting its continued use in Spanish-speaking cultures.
People
Esequiel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esequiel 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
Esequiel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esequiel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esequiel 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 150,331 US residents.
Is Esequiel a common name?
We classify Esequiel 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, 2,929 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esequiel most popular?
The single biggest year for Esequiel was 1974, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esequiel is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Esequiel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,385 people with the name Esequiel, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,663 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 Esequiel 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 Esequiel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esequiel appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,382 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Esequiel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esequiel is Hispanic at 97.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Esequiel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Esequiel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.3% (2,321 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 Esequiel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esequiel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Esequiel 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 Esequiel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esequiel 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 Esequiel 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 called Esequiel?
See how many Americans are named Esequiel on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.