Esher
An anglicized form of the Hebrew name Asher, meaning "happy" or "blessed".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Esher. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Esher today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esher births was 2016 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esher. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Esher with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Esher. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2016
5 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2018 SSA rank
#12,737
Tracked since 2016
Popularity
Esher: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Esher 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 Esher during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Esher
The name Esher is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "esc" meaning "ash tree" and "hyrst" meaning "wooded hill." It is believed to have originated as a place name referring to a settlement located on a wooded hill populated with ash trees.
The earliest recorded use of the name Esher can be traced back to the Domesday Book, a record of landholdings and settlements in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The entry refers to a village called "Aissers" or "Aissesse," which is believed to be the modern-day town of Esher in Surrey, England.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Esher was Esher de Burgh, a prominent English nobleman who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He was a member of the powerful de Burgh family and held the position of Lord of Esher in Surrey.
Another notable figure with the name Esher was Sir Thomas Esher, a British lawyer and politician who lived from 1857 to 1934. He served as a Member of Parliament and was appointed as a Privy Counsellor in 1916.
In the field of art, Esher Patrick Wolcot (1904-1973) was an American painter and printmaker known for his abstract expressionist works. His art was exhibited in major galleries and museums across the United States.
Esher Singh (1888-1966) was an Indian independence activist and politician who played a significant role in the struggle for India's freedom from British rule. He served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and was a prominent figure in the Indian National Congress.
The name Esher has also been recorded in various literary works, including the novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" by Agatha Christie, where one of the characters is named Esher Ralston.
People
Esher + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esher 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
Esher: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esher?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esher 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Esher a common name?
We classify Esher as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esher most popular?
The single biggest year for Esher was 2016, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esher is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Esher in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esher a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Esher 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 Esher still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esher 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 Esher 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Esher?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Esher at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.