Mesa
Feminine · “table”
Mesa is Spanish for a table, and the American west uses it for a flat-topped hill — the landform named for what it looks like from below.
How old is the name Mesa?
Mesa first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Mesa alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 800 people named Mesa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mesa most popular?
Mesa peaked in 2013, reaching #3367 nationally. Today it ranks #4352, 985 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From mensa to Mesa
The story of Mesa
English took a whole vocabulary of landscape from Spanish as settlement moved west, because the terrain had no English names — mesa, butte, canyon, arroyo, playa. A mesa is a flat-topped hill with steep sides, larger than a butte, and the Spanish simply called it a table. Its use as a given name is very recent and appears in American records from the 2000s.
Meaning
table; flat-topped hill
From Spanish mesa, a table, from Latin mensa; the geological sense is American Spanish and English borrowed it in the nineteenth century along with canyon, arroyo and butte.
How the name formed
- mensa
- mesa
Related forms: Mesa · Mensa
Pronouncing Mesa
MAY-sah
Two syllables, first stressed. Spanish gives the same shape.
Nicknames for Mesa
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
- 1972
- Most girls named
- 201347 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3367reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- +39.1%32 in 2025, from 23
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.
Mesa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mesa in Spanish — same name
- Mensa in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Idaho, Utah.
Mesas among us
people named Mesa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 50,227 born in 2025 was named Mesa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rafael test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mesa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rafael climbed just as high around 1977, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rafael's path sketches the road Mesa is walking now.
Mesa 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 Mesa is headed
Mesa 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.
Mesa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mesa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning tied to a real and very striking landform.
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- Every letter is sounded, so Spanish speakers read it correctly at once.
- In Spanish it is the ordinary word for a table, which will be noticed.
- An Arizona city carries the name, which is a strong regional association.
- It is close to Mesa, Mia and Maisie in an American ear.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Mesa to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Mesa? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Mesa
Feminine · #4352 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mesas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Mesa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mesa in 2025?
- Mesa ranks #4352 among US girl names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mesa?
- About 1 in every 50,227 US girls born in 2025 was named Mesa — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mesa with classmates?
- Mesa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mesa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sigrid#4352 · Adel#4352 · Lovella#4352 · Kaysha#4352 · Arissa#4352 · Joseline#4352 · Yajaira#4352 · Elma#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mesa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mesa and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle