Meaning: “help” (Hebrew ʿEzrāʾ). Ezra comes from the Hebrew root ʿ-z-r, “to help.” The old Bible-name dictionaries gloss it simply as “help,” and it is often understood as a short form of Azariah, “Yah has helped.”12
In the Hebrew Bible, Ezra was a priest and scribe who led a group of exiles back from Babylon to Jerusalem in the fifth century BC and pressed a religious reform, gathering and teaching the Law. He gives his name to the Book of Ezra and appears alongside Nehemiah.3
Popularity over time
An old Bible name, climbing again
2024 · 9,2229,2220
18802025
U.S. · 1880–2025 · counts of people issued a Social Security number, not a full count of births. Live series on the published page.
Ezra was used quietly for generations and has surged over the last fifteen years, part of a broad revival of short Old-Testament boys' names. It now sits near the top of the US charts.
Usage & existence
How often is Ezra recorded?
111,768
recorded use · U.S. since 1880
Rising
active & growing
~95% boys
gender usage
1880
first appears in the data
Recorded use, not living people. These are recorded uses of Ezra in US data since 1880, not living people. It is given almost entirely to boys, and its trend is sharply upward. The dataset begins in 1880, so the figures are bounded by the data; the name itself is far older, reaching back to the Hebrew Bible. The living figure above is an estimate built from these records and official life tables: how we estimate it.
Notable use · compactThe name's defining figure is the Biblical scribe Ezra (above). In the modern world its best-known bearer is the American modernist poet Ezra Pound. (With its central figure scriptural rather than a roster of historical namesakes, Ezra shows this compact note rather than a full bearer grid.)
The honest verdict
Our call · subjective
The rare kind of biblical name that feels current. It’s rising fast, so the scarcity is spending itself down; we’d choose it for the sound and the story, not the rarity.
How rare is your Ezra?
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Sources & how we verify ✓ 2+ independent · verified Jun 2026 · data refreshed Jun 2026
Meaning & etymology
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), s.v. Ezra, “Help”; public-domain copy at the Internet Archivepublic domain. (The name is read as a shortened form of Azariah, “Yah has helped.”)
Etymonline, “Ezra”, from Hebrew Ezra, isolating the element ezer “help.”
Popularity data
US SSA · England & Wales ONS, SSN-issuance / registration counts in the dataset, not total births.
History & bearers
Bible dictionary on Ezra the scribe, who led exiles back from Babylon and taught the Law (Book of Ezra; Nehemiah). Scripture referenced by book, not quoted from memory.
Bearers
Ezra Pound (American modernist poet) via Wikipedia / Wikidata structured data.
Meaning is Well established: four public-domain Bible-name dictionaries and a modern authority all give Hebrew “help” from the root ʿ-z-r. The Biblical figure is referenced by book (Ezra; Nehemiah) with no scripture quoted from memory. Bearer facts are from public structured data.