Esson last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Esson

A Scottish habitational surname denoting someone from Essan or Essen in Normandy.

Esson, 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 Esson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Esson in America

Esson is the 43006th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Esson surname appeared 503 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 Esson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Esson 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 43006 42830 0.41%
Count 503 476 5.52%
Proportion per 100k 0.17 0.18 -5.71%

The history of the last name Esson

The surname "ESSON" is of Scottish origin, deriving from the ancient region of Moray in northeastern Scotland. It is believed to have emerged in the 12th or 13th century as a patronymic form of the given name "Essa" or "Esse", which itself may have been a diminutive of the biblical name "Isaac".

The earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from the late 13th century, where it appears spelled in various forms such as "Essoune", "Essoun", and "Esson". These entries suggest that the name was initially concentrated in the counties of Moray and Banff.

In the 14th century, the surname appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a record of Scottish landowners who swore fealty to King Edward I of England during the Wars of Scottish Independence. One notable entry is that of Adam Esson, a landowner from Moray.

The name is also linked to several place names in northeastern Scotland, such as Essonton and Essonside, which likely derived from individuals or families bearing the surname "Esson" who owned or resided in those areas.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname "Esson". One of the earliest was Sir John Esson (c.1380-1454), a Scottish knight and diplomat who served as ambassador to England and France during the reign of King James I of Scotland.

Another prominent figure was David Esson (1598-1660), a Scottish minister and writer who published several religious works and served as the minister of St. Cuthbert's Church in Edinburgh.

In the 18th century, James Esson (1720-1793) was a Scottish poet and schoolmaster from Banffshire, known for his collection of poems titled "The Bard's Miscellany".

In the 19th century, Henry Esson (1809-1887) was a Scottish-born Australian explorer and surveyor who played a significant role in the exploration and mapping of Western Australia.

More recently, the 20th century saw the rise of William Esson (1901-1964), a Scottish-born Canadian writer and playwright who was a prominent figure in the Canadian literary scene and co-founded the influential magazine "New Frontiers".

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Esson

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

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 Esson was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 62.62% 315
Non-Hispanic Black Only 28.43% 143
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.99% 5
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.19% 6
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.19% 11
Hispanic Origin 4.57% 23

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 Esson has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 62.62% 69.33% -10.17%
Black 28.43% 21.64% 27.12%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.99% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.19% 2.31% -64.00%
Two or More Races 2.19% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 4.57% 4.41% 3.56%

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 Esson was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Esson last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/esson-surname-popularity/.

"Esson last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/esson-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Esson last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/esson-surname-popularity/.

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