Esly
A feminine name of French origin, possibly a variation of the name Estelle.
Name Census estimates that about 411 living Americans carry the first name Esly. It is a predominantly female name (95.4% of registrations). The average person named Esly today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esly births was 2023 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esly. 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
411
~ 1 in 833,952 Americans
Peak year
2023
31 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,161
Tracked since 1989
Census
Esly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 744 people with the first name Esly, which placed it at #15,455 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
#15,455
National first-name rank
People counted
744
744 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Esly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esly is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Black (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 Esly 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 Esly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.4% · 695
- White2.6% · 19
- Black or African American2.4% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 6
- Two or more races0.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Esly
Esly leans heavily female at 95.4% of total registrations, but 19 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Esly as a male name
- Ranked #9,161 in 2023
- 8 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (8 births)
Esly as a female name
- Ranked #9,741 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esly leans strongly female. 599 people counted with this name were female (80.3%), compared with 147 male bearers (19.7%).
Popularity
Esly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Esly 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 157 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Esly remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Esly 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 Esly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eslys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Esly
The name Esly is believed to have originated in the ancient Germanic cultures of Europe, with roots dating back to the 5th century AD. It is thought to be derived from the Old Germanic word "aislaz," which means "respected" or "honored." This suggests that the name was originally bestowed upon individuals who were held in high esteem within their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Esly can be found in the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century manuscript containing portions of a Gothic translation of the Bible. Here, the name appears as "Aisleis," referring to a minor figure mentioned in the text.
During the Middle Ages, the name Esly gained popularity among the Germanic tribes that migrated across Europe. It was particularly common in regions now known as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In the 11th century, a nobleman named Esly von Rothenburg was recorded as a prominent landowner in the Swabian region of what is now southern Germany.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including "Eisley," "Eyslee," and "Eizley." In the 13th century, an English knight named Esly de Montfort fought alongside King Edward I during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
In the 16th century, a Dutch scholar and theologian named Esly Voskuyl gained recognition for his contributions to the Protestant Reformation. He was born in 1529 and played a significant role in the translation of the Bible into Dutch.
Another notable figure with the name Esly was Esly von Kalckreuth, a Prussian general who lived from 1737 to 1818. He served under Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War and later became the Governor of Berlin.
Throughout history, the name Esly has been associated with individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions, including artists, writers, and musicians. While its usage has declined in recent times, it remains a unique and intriguing name with a rich historical legacy.
People
Esly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esly 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
Esly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 411 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esly 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 833,952 US residents.
Is Esly a common name?
We classify Esly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 417 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esly most popular?
The single biggest year for Esly was 2023, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esly 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 Esly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 744 people with the name Esly, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,455 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 Esly 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 Esly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esly leans strongly female. 599 people counted with this name were female (80.3%), compared with 147 male bearers (19.7%). 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 Esly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esly is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Black (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 Esly most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Esly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (695 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 Esly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esly a female name?
Yes, 95.4% of people registered as Esly in the SSA data are female. 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 Esly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esly 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 Esly 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 share the name Esly?
Want to know how many Americans are named Esly? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.