Esmai
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- EZ-may
- Origin
- French
- UK rank, 2025
- #2,509 for girls
Esmai is a girls' name of French origin, meaning “esteemed, loved”. In 2025 it ranked 2,509th for girls in the UK (11 babies).
What does Esmai mean?
French: spelling of Esme
“esteemed, loved”
Modern spelling of Esme, from Old French esmé, meaning esteemed.
Is Esmai a girl's or a boy's name?
Esmai is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 11 girls in the UK. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Esmai in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- #2,509among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 11about 1 in 25,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Falling fastdown 66% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 11 girls in the UK were named Esmai, making it the 2,509th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 877th. Its busiest year was 2016, with 89 girls.
It has been given to fewer girls each year for the last 3 years. 2025 had fewer girls named Esmai than any year since 2009.
Half of all the girls named Esmai in the UK since 1996 were born between 2014 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 1,440 girls in the UK were given Esmai or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #33, up from #2,509 for this spelling alone.
Among girls in 2025, it was 2,438th in England and Wales.
Esmai in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 11 | #2,509 |
| 2024 | 15 | #1,953 |
| 2023 | 21 | #1,560 |
| 2022 | 40 | #936 |
| 2021 | 27 | #1,295 |
| 2020 | 44 | #877 |
| 2019 | 44 | #893 |
| 2018 | 52 | #803 |
| 2017 | 64 | #700 |
| 2016 | 89 | #529 |
| 2015 | 85 | #551 |
| 2014 | 71 | #632 |
| 2013 | 74 | #609 |
| 2012 | 37 | #1,041 |
| 2011 | 31 | #1,165 |
| 2010 | 21 | #1,527 |
| 2009 | 5 | #4,141 |
| 2008 | 5 | #4,065 |
| 2007 | 7 | #3,060 |
| 2006 | 3 | #5,259 |
Names like Esmai
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Ayla Zainab Maya Elsie Darcie Safa Ayra Ayah Florence Eva Raya Layla
Other spellings of Esmai
Names related to Esmai
More French names
Eleanor Beau Darcy Genevieve Amy Arleth Elle Russell Monty Mallory Percy Lacey Belle Quincy Bruce Darcey
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland) and Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Esmai: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/esmai, updated 20 October 2026.