Ezra
Meaning
help
The story
Ezra comes from the Hebrew word for help. In the Hebrew Bible, Ezra is the priest and scribe who leads a community back from Babylonian exile and reads the law publicly in Jerusalem, making the name closely associated with restoration and learning. English Protestants adopted it after the Reformation, and poet Ezra Pound later gave it a sharp literary profile. The US curve begins modestly, declines through the middle twentieth century, nearly disappears from the 1950s through the 1980s, and then returns at a low level in the 1990s and 2000s. The jump begins in the 2010s and reaches its strongest point in the 2020s. Ezra is therefore both biblical and distinctly current, part of the move toward short boys' names ending in an open vowel sound. Its meaning is plain, and the chart supplies the comeback story.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ezra peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
137 people · the #33,104 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 9
Among people named Ezra living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 38 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Ezra
Most people given the name Ezra in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Ezra deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ezra truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ezra fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Ezra travels
Jewish American · a beloved scribe-prophet's name enjoying a strong modern revival
Keep exploring
Names like Ezra · Middle names for Ezra · Jewish American baby names · Hebrew baby names · Short names
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