Essa is a distinctive choice, ranked #745 in 2025. Your child is likely to be the only Essa in their class.
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UK Rank 2025
#745
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About the Name Essa
2024 marks Essa's peak year in UK records so far, sitting at UK #773. The name has climbed 125 places in the last five years — a significant surge by any measure. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1998.
Essa is uncommon in the UK, so your child is very likely to be the only Essa in their class.
⭐ Famous People Named Essa
Qais Essa — Qais Essa Hussein was an Iraqi international football player, who played with the Iraqi national football team in 1996 Summer Olympics qualifying.
Essa Al-Kuwari — Essa Al Kuwari is a Qatari footballer who is a midfielder for Al Sadd.
Salim Essa — Salim Aziz Essa, is a South African known for his links to the Gupta family, alongside which he stands accused of state capture and various other forms of criminal and fraudulent activity.
Biographical summaries are shortened from Wikipedia and are used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; those summaries remain available under that same licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Essa
Unlikely. With around 46 UK babies named Essa per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Essa in their class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Essa is at its highest recorded position — #745 in 2025, with 46 births. In 2020 it ranked #898.
Essa is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Essa include: Essa Al-Kuwari, Salim Essa and Muhammad Essa. Short summaries for each appear below.
Essa does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Essas in the wild.
46
UK babies named Essa (2025)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↑ 153 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Essa
Almost certainly the only Essa in the class
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UK Popularity (1998–2025)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Essa
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Salim Aziz Essa, is a South African known for his links to the Gupta family, alongside which he stands accused of state capture and various other forms of criminal and fraudulent activity.
Irfan Aziz Essa is a professor in the School of Interactive Computing of the College of Computing, and adjunct professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).