Ezra
Feminine · Hebrew roots · “help”
Ezra is given to both — 5,007 girls and 106,761 boys since 1880. See Ezra as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Ezra is a name from the Hebrew scriptures that English speakers took up in the seventeenth century and never quite put down. Two syllables, five letters, no silent traps — it says itself. After generations of sitting quietly in the record, it has been climbing hard, and it now sounds equally at home on a great-grandfather and on a toddler.
How old is the name Ezra?
Ezra first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Ezra is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 4,900 people named Ezra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ezra most popular?
Ezra peaked in 2022, reaching #646 nationally. Today it ranks #833, 187 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Ezra appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From ʿEzrā (Hebrew) to Ezra
The story of Ezra
Ezra belongs to the Hebrew Bible: the scribe and priest of the Book of Ezra, who led exiles back from Babylon and reestablished the Law in Jerusalem in the fifth century BC. Greek translators rendered the name Esdras, and it passed through Latin in that shape, which is why Spanish and Portuguese Bibles still say Esdras while English ones say Ezra. English-speaking Puritans, drawn to Old Testament names their neighbors were not using, carried Ezra to New England, and it stayed in steady American use for centuries afterwards. Its recent rise has been shared with Britain and Canada, where the name charts too — and the frontman of Vampire Weekend, Ezra Koenig, put it back in general earshot along the way.
Meaning
help, or helper
From the Hebrew עֶזְרָא (ʿEzrā), understood as a short form of names like Azariah, 'God has helped'.
How the name formed
- ʿEzrāHebrew
- EsdrasGreek
- EsdrasLatin
- EzraEnglish
Related forms: עֶזְרָא · Esdras · Esdras · Esdras · Esdra · Uzayr
Pronouncing Ezra
EZ-ruh
Stress on the first syllable in English. In Hebrew the stress falls at the end, closer to ez-RAH.
Nicknames for Ezra
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 2022457 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #646reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −18.3%327 in 2025, from 400
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.
Ezra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- עֶזְרָא in Hebrew — transliteration
- Esdras in Spanish — same name
- Esdras in Portuguese — same name
- Esdras in French — same name
- Esdra in Italian — same name
- Uzayr in Arabic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Ezras among us
people named Ezra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,915 born in 2025 was named Ezra
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ezra
- #833
- Ezra on the 2025 chart
- #560
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ezra went to 327 girls in 2025, but Esra, 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 — 273 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 3,670 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 4,915 for Ezra 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
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jessi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ezra's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jessi climbed just as high around 1981, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jessi's path sketches the road Ezra is walking now.
Ezra 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 Ezra is headed
Ezra should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Ezra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ezra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds, and familiar enough that most people write it correctly the first time.
- A documented record stretching from the Hebrew Bible through Puritan England and New England to the present day.
- Two syllables, so it sits easily beside longer surnames and needs no shortening.
- Recognized in England, Wales and Canada as well as the US, with Esdras as its ready equivalent in Spanish and French.
- It is rising quickly, so a child named Ezra now is more likely to meet others than one named a decade ago. Right now that means a classmate here and there rather than a crowd, but the trend is upward.
- Ezekiel is popular at the same time, and people sometimes assume Ezra is short for it. A small, lifelong correction.
- The biblical roots are unmistakable, which some families want and others would rather not foreground.
- Recorded for girls as well, but the boys' side is overwhelmingly larger. A girl named Ezra will be read as a boy on forms and rosters until she says otherwise.
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What they receive
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Ezra
Feminine · Hebrew roots · #833 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ezras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,900 people named Ezra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Ezra?
- Ezra is the most-used spelling in US records — 327 of the 438 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Esra, Ezrah and Esraa.
- How popular is the name Ezra in 2025?
- Ezra ranks #833 among US girl names in 2025, with 327 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ezra?
- About 1 in every 4,915 US girls born in 2025 was named Ezra — 327 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ezra with classmates?
- Ezra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ezra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zaniyah#833 · Erin#833 · Zelda#832 · Denver#836 · Braelynn#837 · Luz#838 · Sloan#838 · Jaliyah#838
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ezra? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ezra and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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