Esmeralda
Esmeralda was the 373rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 823 babies. Its best year was 1998, when it ranked 133rd with 2,477 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 3 places. More babies were named Esmeralda in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Meaning emerald · Spanish, Greek
Say it ez-muh-RAHL-duh /ˌɛzməˈrɑldə/
- Rank in 2025
- #373 girls, up 21 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 823girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19982,477 babies
- Total since 1880
- 51,751babies recorded
What does the name Esmeralda mean?
Esmeralda is the Spanish word for "emerald", from Latin smaragdus and Greek smaragdos. Wiktionary notes it was first used as a name in Victor Hugo's novel Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), whose heroine Esmeralda is a Romani dancer; Yonge's 1884 index also lists it with the gloss "emerald". It is now common in Spanish-speaking families.
esmeralda (Spanish, “emerald”)σμάραγδος (Ancient Greek, “emerald”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Esme, Emerald, Meralda.
See also: Spanish names, names that mean jewel.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Esmeralda', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Charlotte M. Yonge, History of Christian Names, new ed. (1884), index s.v. 'Esmeralda' (19th-century work; used for dated usage facts only), Macmillan (public domain; Internet Archive scan)
- Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris (Project Gutenberg eBook #2610), Project Gutenberg
- Dictionary.com Unabridged (based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary), with Collins English Dictionary, s.v. 'Esmeralda', Dictionary.com / Random House / HarperCollins
Nicknames for Esmeralda
The usual nicknames for Esmeralda are Esme. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Esmeralda in the last five years, 114 were named Esme, against 4 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esme | Traditional | #298 | 4,771 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Esmeraldas go by each one.
Esmeralda popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 180 since 1973.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #373 | 823 |
| 2020 | #394 | 790 |
| 2010 | #283 | 1,168 |
| 2000 | #195 | 1,641 |
| 1990 | #423 | 601 |
| 1980 | #420 | 520 |
| 1970 | #704 | 221 |
| 1960 | #791 | 168 |
| 1950 | #1,126 | 67 |
| 1940 | #2,801 | 10 |
| 1930 | #2,044 | 17 |
| 1920 | #4,114 | 7 |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Esmeralda, counting every spelling?
Esmeralda is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #392 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #373 for Esmeralda on its own. Together these spellings went to 842 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda | 823 | #373 | 4,174 |
| Ezmeralda | 19 | #6,187 | 92 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Esmeralda?
823 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Esmeralda (0.23 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Esmeralda born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 10 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Esmeralda.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Esmeralda?
About 50,000 people born in the US named Esmeralda are alive today, with a median age of 24; half are between 15 and 34. That makes Esmeralda mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Esmeralda by state
How common Esmeralda was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Nevada (3.6×), New Mexico (3.5×), Arizona (2.9×), California (2.4×), Colorado (1.8×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Kentucky, Louisiana, Pennsylvania.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Esmeralda: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Esmeralda, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Esmeralda · Sibling names for Esmeralda
Questions about the name Esmeralda
What does Esmeralda mean?
Esmeralda means “emerald” (Spanish, Greek origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Esmeralda?
Esmeralda was the 373rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 823 babies. Its best year was 1998, when it ranked 133rd with 2,477 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 3 places. More babies were named Esmeralda in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Is Esmeralda a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Esmeralda in the US.
Where is Esmeralda most popular?
In 2021–2025, Esmeralda was most common in Nevada (1.87 per 1,000 girls), followed by New Mexico and Arizona.