Esme
A diminutive of the Old French names Esmeree or Esmerie, from the root "esmer" meaning "to esteem or admire".
Name Census estimates that about 9,793 living Americans carry the first name Esme. It sits at #344 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Esme today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esme births was 2022 (1,052 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esme. 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 Esme with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Esme is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
9.8K
~ 1 in 35,000 Americans
Peak year
2022
1,052 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2021 SSA rank
#344
Tracked since 1913
Census
Esme in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,816 people with the first name Esme, which placed it at #3,548 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
#3,548
National first-name rank
People counted
5.8K
5,816 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Esme
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esme is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.2%) and Two or More Races (8.9%). 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 Esme 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 Esme at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.0% · 3,434
- Hispanic or Latino23.2% · 1,347
- Two or more races8.9% · 515
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 261
- Black or African American4.1% · 237
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Esme
Out of the 9,885 babies given the name Esme since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Esme as a male name
- Ranked #12,709 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2016 (5 births)
Esme as a female name
- Ranked #344 in 2024
- 901 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (1,052 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esme appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,818 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Esme: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Esme from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 4,521 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Esme 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 Esme during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Esmes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Esme, while Mississippi, Delaware, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 169 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Esme
The name Esme has its origins in the French language, derived from the Old French word "esmée," meaning "beloved" or "esteemed." It is a feminine form of the masculine name "Esmé."
The earliest recorded use of the name Esme can be traced back to the 12th century in France, where it was a popular name among the nobility and upper classes. In medieval France, the name was often associated with grace, beauty, and virtue.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Esme was Esme de Laval, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was renowned for her beauty and her patronage of the arts and literature.
During the Renaissance period, the name Esme gained popularity in England, particularly among the aristocracy. One notable figure was Esme Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox (1542-1583), a Scottish nobleman who served as a close advisor to King James VI of Scotland.
In the 17th century, the name Esme was also used in literature. In the novel "The Fortunes of Nigel" by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1822, a character named Esme Cheneau plays a significant role.
Another notable bearer of the name Esme was Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith (1863-1939), a British diplomat and politician who served as a member of the House of Lords and as the British Ambassador to the United States.
In the 20th century, the name Esme gained wider popularity and was used across various cultures and regions. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Esme Wynne-Tyson (1890-1970), a British actress known for her roles in silent films and early talkies.
Another notable Esme was Esme Renouf (1883-1966), a British academic and historian who specialized in the study of ancient Greece and Rome. She was one of the first women to be appointed as a fellow at the University of Oxford.
Throughout its history, the name Esme has been associated with elegance, grace, and intellectualism. Its French origins and its use among the nobility and literary circles have contributed to its enduring appeal and cultural significance.
People
Esme + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esme 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
Esme: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esme?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,793 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esme 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 35,000 US residents.
Is Esme a common name?
We classify Esme as "Rare". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,885 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esme most popular?
The single biggest year for Esme was 2022, when 1,052 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esme is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Esme in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,816 people with the name Esme, or 1.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,548 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 Esme 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 Esme?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esme appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,818 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Esme?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esme is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.2%) and Two or More Races (8.9%). 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 Esme most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Esme in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.0% (3,434 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 Esme in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esme a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Esme 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 Esme still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esme 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 Esme 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 common is the name Esme?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.