Fun Facts About the Name Essa
- 985 babies named Essa: U.S. records list 985 babies given the name Essa from 1880 through 2025. Even 226 girls received the name Essa - about 1 girl for every 3 boys.
What Does the Name Essa Mean?
Essa is a spelling of the Arabic given name ʿĪsā (عيسى), the name used in the Quran for Jesus. Its meaning as a name is "Jesus"; the Arabic form is a personal name taken from religious tradition rather than an ordinary Arabic word with a separate sense. The name behind it is the Hebrew and Aramaic Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ), usually understood as "the Lord is salvation," which passed into Greek as Iēsous and Latin as Iesus.
How the Arabic ʿĪsā relates to those earlier forms is disputed. Arabic-speaking Christians use Yasūʿ (يسوع), borrowed from Syriac Yeshuʿ, and that form matches the Hebrew more closely than ʿĪsā does. Some scholars have suggested that ʿĪsā is a reshaping of the Greek Iēsous; others, that it comes from a shortened or altered Syriac form. No explanation of its unusual shape is universally accepted. The name is not related to the similar-looking biblical name Esau, which goes back to a different Hebrew name, ʿEsaw.
Essa Name History & Origins
ʿĪsā appears in the Quran as a prophet, born of Maryam (Mary) without a father, and is named there about 25 times; Islamic tradition also teaches that he will return before the Day of Judgment. Because Arabic-speaking Christians kept the older form Yasūʿ for Jesus, ʿĪsā became the usual name among Muslims, and it spread with Islam into the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond.
The name is common today in the Middle East and North Africa and is especially widespread in South Asia, in Pakistan and India, where Isa, Essa, Eesa, and Issa are all used. Muslim communities in Southeast Asia and in Africa use it too, and it is found as a family name as well as a given name.
The English spelling Essa comes from transliterating the Arabic letter ʿayn, which has no English equivalent; different conventions produced Isa, Issa, Eesa, Eissa, and Essa. The final -a stands for the long ā that ends ʿĪsā. Readers who meet the written form without context often say "ESS-uh," while those familiar with the Arabic say it closer to "EE-sah."
How Popular is the Name Essa?
Essa recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2022. Its best rank was #962 in 1885.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #9,656 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #12,532 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2023 | #7,364 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2022 | #7,753 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 2021 | #8,168 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2020 | #9,136 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 2019 | #9,969 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2018 | #8,784 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2017 | #7,570 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2015 | #13,439 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #17,388 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #10,668 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2008 | #18,386 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1947 | #5,563 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1928 | #4,952 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1927 | #4,460 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1926 | #5,090 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1925 | #4,149 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1923 | #5,195 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1922 | #5,252 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1920 | #5,224 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1919 | #5,038 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1917 | #3,451 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1912 | #2,215 | 8 | 0.0014% |
| 1900 | #2,024 | 5 | 0.0017% |
| 1896 | #1,473 | 6 | 0.0025% |
| 1891 | #1,251 | 6 | 0.0032% |
| 1888 | #1,349 | 5 | 0.0028% |
| 1885 | #962 | 6 | 0.0045% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,581 | 51 | 0.0030% |
| 2024 | #3,169 | 38 | 0.0022% |
| 2023 | #2,706 | 48 | 0.0028% |
| 2022 | #2,446 | 57 | 0.0033% |
| 2021 | #3,319 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2020 | #3,293 | 34 | 0.0020% |
| 2019 | #2,468 | 54 | 0.0030% |
| 2018 | #3,261 | 35 | 0.0019% |
| 2017 | #2,726 | 45 | 0.0024% |
| 2016 | #3,247 | 35 | 0.0018% |
| 2015 | #3,387 | 33 | 0.0017% |
| 2014 | #4,590 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2013 | #4,095 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 2012 | #4,586 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2011 | #4,406 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2010 | #5,821 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2009 | #4,328 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 2008 | #5,860 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 2007 | #11,372 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #8,964 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2005 | #8,528 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2004 | #5,331 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2003 | #6,389 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2002 | #6,216 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2001 | #7,091 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2000 | #7,669 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #7,370 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #5,242 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1997 | #7,540 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1994 | #6,549 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #9,170 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #6,746 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1990 | #5,118 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1989 | #5,308 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1983 | #6,567 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #5,289 | 6 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Essa Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are fine when in harmony but changeable when in discord, because many of your best qualities are then reversed. You are entertaining but may be impulsive. Freedom is a necessity, and you find it difficult to settle down. Your versatility results in many changes, and often brings travel. Your fine intellect is capable of high honors if applied seriously. You are capable of inspired thinking applied to material things. You can be restless, changeable, and very sexy. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Essa's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Essa's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.