Esli
An invented name of uncertain derivation and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 576 living Americans carry the first name Esli. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Esli today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esli births was 2023 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esli. 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
576
~ 1 in 595,060 Americans
Peak year
2023
32 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,740
Tracked since 1987
Census
Esli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 711 people with the first name Esli, which placed it at #16,004 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
#16,004
National first-name rank
People counted
711
711 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
88.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Esli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esli is Hispanic at 88.5%. The next largest groups are White (6.0%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Esli 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 Esli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.5% · 629
- White6.0% · 43
- Black or African American3.2% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 12
- Two or more races0.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Esli
Esli is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 585 total registrations, 150 (25.6%) were male and 435 (74.4%) were female.
Esli as a male name
- Ranked #11,298 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (22 births)
Esli as a female name
- Ranked #9,740 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Esli on both sides of the split. Of the 720 people counted with this name, 259 were male (36.0%) and 461 were female (64.0%).
Popularity
Esli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Esli 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 223 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Esli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Esli 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 Esli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eslis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Esli
The name Esli is a diminutive form of the Russian name Esfir, which is derived from the Persian name Esther. Esther was a Jewish queen mentioned in the biblical Book of Esther, written around the 5th century BCE. The name Esther is believed to have originated from the Persian word "star" or "planet Venus."
Esli was not a commonly used name in ancient times, as it was primarily a diminutive form of Esfir. However, there are some historical references to individuals bearing this name. One of the earliest recorded examples is Esli Karlovskaya, a Russian noblewoman who lived in the late 16th century during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.
In the 17th century, Esli Volkonskaya was a prominent figure in the Russian aristocracy. She was known for her involvement in various political intrigues and conspiracies during the turbulent period of the Romanov dynasty.
During the 18th century, Esli Andreyevna Tolstaya was a renowned Russian poet and translator. She was born in 1718 and was a member of the influential Tolstoy family.
In the 19th century, Esli Mikhailovna Naryshkina was a Russian aristocrat and philanthropist. She was born in 1825 and was known for her charitable work, particularly in supporting orphanages and schools.
Another notable figure with the name Esli was Esli Maksimovna Kalmykova, a Russian ballerina who lived from 1876 to 1962. She was a renowned performer and teacher at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
While the name Esli is not as common today, it has a rich historical background rooted in Russian culture and nobility. Its connection to the biblical name Esther adds an additional layer of significance to this diminutive form.
People
Esli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esli 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
Esli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 576 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esli 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 595,060 US residents.
Is Esli a common name?
We classify Esli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 585 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esli most popular?
The single biggest year for Esli was 2023, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esli is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Esli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 711 people with the name Esli, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,004 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 Esli 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 Esli?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Esli on both sides of the split. Of the 720 people counted with this name, 259 were male (36.0%) and 461 were female (64.0%). 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 Esli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esli is Hispanic at 88.5%. The next largest groups are White (6.0%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Esli most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Esli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.5% (629 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 Esli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esli a female name?
Yes, 74.4% of people registered as Esli 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 Esli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esli 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 Esli 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 Americans are named Esli?
See how many people share the name Esli on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.