Recorded 1911–2025 · United States
Esmeralda was most popular in 1998, when 2,484 American babies were given the name — ranking #280 that year. In 2025 it ranked #773, with 823 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 51,751 people named Esmeralda.
Esmeralda first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1911, which makes it about 114 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 109 of the 115 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 51,751 American births named Esmeralda between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 50,304 are estimated to be alive today.
823 American babies were named Esmeralda in 2025, ranking #773 that year.
Esmeralda is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 835 births a year, against 873 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -4% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Esmeralda is a girl’s name — 99.7% of the 51,751 Americans given it were girls and 0.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 50,304 Americans named Esmeralda are alive today — 97% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 24 years old, and half are between 15 and 34.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Esmeralda on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org