Ezana
Derived from the Semitic root meaning "rest" or "repose."
Name Census estimates that about 573 living Americans carry the first name Ezana. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ezana today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ezana births was 2019 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ezana. 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 Ezana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
573
~ 1 in 598,175 Americans
Peak year
2019
39 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,999
Tracked since 1992
Census
Ezana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 519 people with the first name Ezana, which placed it at #20,044 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
#20,044
National first-name rank
People counted
519
519 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ezana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ezana is Black at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and White (2.9%). 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 Ezana 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 Ezana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.8% · 466
- Two or more races4.0% · 21
- White2.9% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Ezana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ezana from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 292 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ezana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ezana 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 Ezana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ezanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, Maryland, Georgia recorded the most babies named Ezana, while Virginia, Washington, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ezana
The given name Ezana has its roots in the Ge'ez language, an ancient Semitic tongue that was the liturgical language of the Aksumite Empire, a powerful kingdom that flourished in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia from around the 1st to the 8th century AD. Ezana is derived from the Ge'ez word "ʕezān," meaning "powerful" or "mighty."
One of the earliest and most significant references to the name Ezana can be found in the inscriptions of King Ezana, who ruled the Aksumite Empire from around 320 to 360 AD. These inscriptions, carved in stone and written in Ge'ez, document King Ezana's conquests, his conversion to Christianity, and his role in establishing the religion as the state faith of the Aksumite Empire.
The name Ezana has a long and storied history, with several notable individuals bearing this moniker throughout the centuries. One such figure was Ezana, the Patriarch of Alexandria, who held the position from 621 to 631 AD and played a crucial role in the spread of Coptic Christianity in Egypt.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Ezana, the 14th-century Ethiopian Emperor, who ruled from 1344 to 1372 AD. During his reign, he consolidated power and expanded the boundaries of his kingdom, earning him a reputation as a skilled military leader and statesman.
In more recent times, Ezana Sehay, an Ethiopian politician and diplomat, served as the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1993, playing a pivotal role in the country's transition to democracy after years of civil war.
Ezana Kahsay, born in 1935, was an Eritrean athlete who excelled in long-distance running and represented Eritrea in several international competitions, including the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals who have borne the name Ezana throughout history, a name that carries with it a rich cultural heritage and a sense of strength and power.
People
Ezana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ezana 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
Ezana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ezana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 573 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ezana 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 598,175 US residents.
Is Ezana a common name?
We classify Ezana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 578 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ezana most popular?
The single biggest year for Ezana was 2019, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ezana is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ezana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 519 people with the name Ezana, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,044 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 Ezana 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 Ezana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ezana leans strongly male. 484 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 24 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Ezana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ezana is Black at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and White (2.9%). 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 Ezana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ezana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (466 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 Ezana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ezana a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ezana 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 Ezana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ezana 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 Ezana 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 Ezana?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Ezana at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.