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Esau

#3,204 in 2025Boys' name

Red, through Ἡσαῦ

Esau has been given to 2,976 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #3,204 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2007, with 82 recorded.

Babies named Esau, 2025

1 in 89,600

Esau over time, 1880–2025

Boys
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Esau: meaning, origin, and history

Red, through Ἡσαῦ

Hebrew

What Esau means

Esau belongs to the name family reached through Esau → Ἡσαῦ → אֱדוֹם. Its meaning is “red”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Ancient Greek Ἡσαῦ (Hēsaû), from Biblical Hebrew עֵשָׂו (ʿēśāw).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Esau (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Esau is used in English and Ewe. Its origins include Hebrew.

Esau comes through Ancient Greek Ἡσαῦ and Biblical Hebrew עֵשָׂו.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ἡσαῦ and אֱדוֹם.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Esau is pronounced /ˈisɔ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,976 boys were recorded with the name Esau between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 82 in 2007; its best national rank was #926 in 1890.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,034 in 2020 to #3,204 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,986 in 2015 to #3,204 in 2025.

How common is Esau?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 89,600
37 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 46,200
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,204
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
62,106 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Esau sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 62,106 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Esau. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Esaus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Esau was born before 1994 — so the typical Esau is around 31 today.

Median birth year
1994
About 31 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
21.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
40.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,311
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 21.6% of all recorded uses (644).

Is Esau rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−140
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−170
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−218
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.95×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
45.1%
Peak was 2007 (82)
Years since peak
18
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#926
1890

Spellings of Esau

Esau is not the most common spelling — Evan is, with 42.0% against Esau's 0.43%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Esau is used

Across 1910–2025, Esau was most concentrated in South Carolina — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 59,402 across all states with data. It was least common in Oregon (1 in —).

04 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1South Carolina1 in 25,000
  2. 2California1 in 33,333
  3. 3Texas1 in 33,333
  4. 4Arizona1 in 100,000
  5. 5Mississippi1 in 100,000
  6. 6Florida1 in —
  7. 7Georgia1 in —
  8. 8Illinois1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Esau has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Notable people named Esau

People whose public names include Esau, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Esau by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,204
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 170
Best rank ever
#926
1890
Peak year
2007
82 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,976
Count in 2025
37

Names similar to Esau

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

EsaiEsaEsaiasEsawEsaulEsaiahEsamEsadEsaunEsaieEsatEsanIsauEsaelEsaiaEsain

Names with a curve like Esau

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Esau, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

JhonSalomonBaltazarAmonArmenCreightonPatricioIsrealHadleyNevinGasparEdson

Sibling names for Esau

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Esau

Top names of 2007, Esau's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1890Boys' names starting with EShort Boy Names