Mesa
A Spanish feminine name derived from the Spanish word for "table."
Name Census estimates that about 797 living Americans carry the first name Mesa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mesa today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mesa births was 2013 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mesa. 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
797
~ 1 in 430,056 Americans
Peak year
2013
47 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,533
Tracked since 1972
Popularity
Mesa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mesa from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 302 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mesa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mesa 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 Mesa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mesas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mesa
The name Mesa is derived from the Spanish word "mesa," which means "table" or "plateau." It originated in Spain and was likely given as a descriptive surname to someone who lived near a flat-topped hill or a plateau. The name has its roots in Latin, with "mensa" meaning "table" or "flat surface."
In the Spanish-speaking world, Mesa has been used as a given name for both males and females for centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Mesa de Huesca, a 12th-century Aragonese nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors.
During the colonial era, the name Mesa was carried to the Americas by Spanish settlers and explorers. It appears in historical records from various regions of Latin America, including Mexico, Central America, and South America.
One notable bearer of the name Mesa was Mesa Verde, a renowned Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site in Colorado, United States. The name, which translates to "green table" in Spanish, refers to the flat-topped mesas that characterize the landscape of the area.
In the 19th century, Mesa gained popularity as a given name in the United States, particularly among Hispanic communities. One of the earliest documented examples is Mesa Yeager, a frontier scout and interpreter born in New Mexico in 1825.
Other historical figures with the name Mesa include Mesa Selimovic (1910-1982), a renowned Bosnian writer and novelist; Mesa Gemes (1932-2021), a Greek actress and theater director; and Mesa Lujan (1959-2020), an Argentine singer and actress known for her work in tango music.
Throughout history, the name Mesa has been associated with various professions, including military leaders, explorers, artists, and writers. Its connection to the natural landscape and its Spanish origins have contributed to its enduring appeal across different cultures and regions.
People
Mesa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mesa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mesa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mesa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 797 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mesa 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 430,056 US residents.
Is Mesa a common name?
We classify Mesa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 811 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mesa most popular?
The single biggest year for Mesa was 2013, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mesa is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mesa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mesa 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.
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.