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Esra

Feminine · “night journey”

Esra is given to both — 661 girls and 26 boys since 1880. See other names given to both

1982high 2025
#2645 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare65 girls in 2025

Esra is the Turkish of the Arabic isra — the Night Journey — and it is separately the Turkish form of Ezra.

How old is the name Esra?

Esra first appears in US birth records in 1982 — 43 years ago. The typical Esra is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Esra are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Esra most popular?

Esra peaked in 2025, reaching #2645 nationally. Today it ranks #2645, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.

Compare this nameMore “E” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Esra

Sura 17 opens with the Night Journey — the Prophet carried from Mecca to the farthest mosque in one night — and is named al-Isra for it. Turkish naming took Esra from the word. It is among the most-used Turkish girls' names and appears in American records in current use.

Meaningscholars disagree

night journey

Generally from the Arabic isra, the Prophet's night journey to Jerusalem, which sura 17 is named for. It may alternatively be a Turkish form of Ezra, from the Hebrew for 'help'. Both are attributed and the isra route is the commoner for the feminine.

How the name formed

  1. isra
  2. Esra

Related forms: Esra · إسراء · Israa

Pronouncing Esra

ES-rah

Two syllables, stress on the first. Arabic Isra is is-RAA.

Nicknames for Esra

Moderate

EsThe front sound alone, used inside families rather than generally
SraThe back of the name, used inside families rather than generally
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1982–2025653306519822025

US babies named Esra per year from 1982 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#26451980s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1982
Most girls named
202565 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#2645reached in 2025
Change vs 2024
+6.6%65 in 2025, from 61
Esra sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2025, with 65 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Esra in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Esra in Turkish — same name
  • إسراء in Arabic — related form
  • Israa in English — spelling variant

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.

Esras among us

700

people named Esra are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 24,727 born in 2025 was named Esra

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Esra

#2645
Esra on the 2025 chart
#560
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Esra went to 65 girls in 2025, but Ezra, Ezrah and Esraa are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 438, which makes it the 560th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,085 places above the chart.

About 1 girl in 3,670 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 24,727 for Esra itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Desha test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Esra's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Desha climbed just as high around 1969, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Desha's path sketches the road Esra is walking now.

40%chance Esra will feel “very 2020s” by 2040
Esra, aligned on its peakDesha· peak 1969not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+50 yrsDesha · #11969Esra today
Esra today is about where Desha stood in 1969 — in its own peak year. By 1984, Desha had settled around #4755.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Esra sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Esra is headed

19822030

US babies named Esra per year, 1982 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Esra looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 34% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.

Rising+34% by 2030projected around #2,251 in 2030

Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.

A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.

Esra beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Esra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Esrathis name65#2645Caliana65#2645Aaira65#2645Wylie65#2645Henrietta65#2645

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • That a whole sura is named for the Night Journey is a first-rate anchor.
  • Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
  • It is among the most-used Turkish girls' names.
What to consider
  • The origin is split between Arabic and Hebrew routes.
  • Ezra is a masculine name that sounds nearly identical.
  • It reads as specifically Turkish.

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What they receive

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Esra

Feminine · #2645 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Esras are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Esra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Esra?
Esra is one of 4 recorded spellings. Ezra is the more common one — 327 births in 2025 against 65 for Esra.
How popular is the name Esra in 2025?
Esra ranks #2645 among US girl names in 2025, with 65 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Esra?
About 1 in every 24,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Esra — 65 in all.
Will my child share the name Esra with classmates?
Esra will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Esra

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Caliana#2645 · Aaira#2645 · Wylie#2645 · Henrietta#2645 · Mahogany#2645 · Amaiah#2645 · Charlize#2645 · Journii#2645

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Esra? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Esra and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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