Eze
A masculine name likely of West African origin meaning "prince" or "king".
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Eze. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eze today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eze births was 2023 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eze. 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 Eze with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Eze. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
2023
19 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,551
Tracked since 2014
Census
Eze in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Eze, which placed it at #33,765 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
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eze
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eze is Black at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.9%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Eze 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 Eze at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.1% · 171
- Hispanic or Latino13.9% · 34
- Two or more races8.6% · 21
- White6.1% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 3
Popularity
Eze: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eze from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 61 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
Eze 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 Eze during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eze
The name Eze has its origins in the Igbo language of southeastern Nigeria. It is a shortened version of the name Ezekiel, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yeḥezqel, meaning "God will strengthen." The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, with a rich cultural heritage dating back centuries.
Eze is believed to have been in use as a given name among the Igbo people since at least the 16th century, during the height of the Nri Kingdom, one of the oldest and most influential civilizations in West Africa. The name may have been influenced by the spread of Christianity and the Bible in the region during this time.
In Igbo culture, the name Eze is often associated with strength, resilience, and divine protection. It is a name that is frequently given to boys with the hope that they will grow to be strong leaders and pillars of their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Eze can be found in the writings of the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Duarte Lopes, who documented his encounters with the Igbo people during his travels in West Africa.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Eze. One such figure is Eze Nri Oba (c. 1550-1610), who was a prominent ruler of the Nri Kingdom during the late 16th century. Another notable bearer of the name is Eze Nwokolo (1852-1924), a renowned Igbo trader and businessman who played a significant role in the economic development of southeastern Nigeria in the early 20th century.
Other historical figures with the name Eze include Eze Nri Apia (c. 1700-1770), a respected leader and spiritual figure in the Nri Kingdom; Eze Nri Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745-1797), a former slave who became a prominent author and abolitionist; and Eze Nri Akanu Ibiam (1900-1995), a Nigerian statesman and one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria.
The name Eze continues to be a popular choice among the Igbo people and has also gained recognition in other parts of Nigeria and beyond. Its rich cultural heritage and associations with strength and leadership ensure that it will remain a significant name in the region for generations to come.
People
Eze + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eze 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
Eze: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eze?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eze 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 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Eze a common name?
We classify Eze as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eze most popular?
The single biggest year for Eze was 2023, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eze is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eze in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Eze, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 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 Eze 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 Eze?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eze leans strongly male. 233 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 9 female bearers (3.7%). 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 Eze?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eze is Black at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.9%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Eze most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Eze in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.1% (171 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 Eze in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eze a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eze 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 Eze still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eze 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 Eze 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 are called Eze?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.