Find out how popular the last name Esquenazi is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Esquenazi.

Esquenazi, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Esquenazi surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Esquenazi in America

Esquenazi is the 63698th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Esquenazi surname appeared 313 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Esquenazi.

We can also compare 2010 data for Esquenazi to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Esquenazi

The surname ESQUENAZI originated in the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval period. It is a Sephardic Jewish surname derived from the Spanish word "esquenaza," meaning "pomegranate." This suggests that the name may have originated as a descriptive nickname or a topographic name referring to a location where pomegranate trees were abundant.

The earliest recorded instances of the ESQUENAZI surname can be traced back to the 13th century in Spain and Portugal. It is believed that the name was borne by Sephardic Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition but secretly maintained their Jewish faith and traditions.

One notable historical reference to the ESQUENAZI name can be found in the 15th-century records of the Inquisition in Spain, where several individuals with this surname were tried and persecuted for their alleged adherence to Jewish practices.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, many ESQUENAZI families fled Spain and Portugal to escape religious persecution, settling in various parts of Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and the Americas. This diaspora led to the widespread dispersal of the surname across different regions and cultures.

Notable individuals with the ESQUENAZI surname include:

1. Moses Esquenazi (1670-1742), a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi in Amsterdam, known for his work on Jewish law and ethics.
2. Isaac Esquenazi (1780-1845), a successful merchant and philanthropist in Gibraltar, who funded the construction of several synagogues and schools.
3. Sarah Esquenazi (1810-1888), a Jewish educator and activist in Morocco, who established one of the first schools for Jewish girls in the country.
4. Shlomo Esquenazi (1860-1932), a renowned Hebrew poet and writer from Bulgaria, whose works helped revive the use of Hebrew as a literary language.
5. David Esquenazi (1920-2005), a celebrated Sephardic cantor and composer from Turkey, known for his preservation and promotion of Sephardic liturgical music.

The ESQUENAZI surname has undergone various spelling variations over the centuries, including Esquenasi, Eskenazi, and Isquenazi, reflecting the diverse regions and languages in which it has been used.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Esquenazi

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Esquenazi.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Esquenazi was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Esquenazi has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Esquenazi was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Esquenazi, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!