Editor’s note: This post was originally published on June 1, 2008, and was substantially revised and re-posted on November 29, 2011.
He fits right in with popular picks like Noah and Sebastian, all names that capture the Softer Side of Boys.
Thanks to Bo for suggesting today’s Baby Name of the Day: Ezra.
Turn on the radio in the spring of 1995 and you couldn’t avoid hearing this song:
Lookin’ around the house
Hidden behind the window and the door
Searchin’ for signs of life
But there’s nobody home
The song was called Good, and the artists were a previously little-known group formed back at Louisiana State University. The band is known as Better Than Ezra, and their success helped to quietly push Ezra back into the spotlight.
The musicians have declined to discuss the meaning of their name, but there’s no shortage of material. Ezra has been in use as a personal name for more than two thousand years.
The first Ezra, sometimes called Esdras, was a poet and scribe mentioned in the Old Testament. While the historical details of his life are open to debate, Ezra’s role as a teacher and interpreter of Jewish law is well established. It’s not quite like naming your son Moses, but it is a name rich with religious significance. The name’s origins are debated, but he may be derived from a phrase that means “God helps.”
Ezra has been worn by some accomplished men, two of whom have ties to the Ivy League:
- An early president of Yale University, Ezra Stiles, bore the name in the late 18th century.
- A few decades later, Ezra Cornell made a fortune in the telegraph business as partner to Samuel Morse in the founding of Western Union, and in 1865 would found a university in Ithaca that still bears his name.
Before Abercrombie & Fitch peddled goods to teenagers in every mall in America, outdoorsmen and business partners David Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch established the company as an upscale emporium.
Then there’s the poet Ezra Pound. Born in the wilds of Idaho when it was still just a territory, Pound spent most of his adult years in Europe. In later life, his political views were scandalous. Living in Italy during World War II, he supported Mussolini and eventually spent time at a US Army detention camp in Pisa. Nonetheless, his artistic accomplishments as both a translator and author are considerable, and lend Ezra a literary sheen.
There’s also the classic storybook, The Snowy Day, by celebrated children’s book author Ezra Jack Keats.
Parents likely shied away from him because his -a ending was out of favor for boys. That’s no longer a barrier, thanks to well-established choices like Joshua and Noah, as well as up-and-comers like Elijah and Isaiah.
In 2007, Ezra was the 342nd most popular name for baby boys born in the US. As of 2010, he’d risen to #243. Along with Abel and a few other underused Biblical appellations, Ezra is one that is catching on.
With his energetic “z” sound, Ezra is one to consider if Zachary seems too common but Zachariah a bit too much.
My Ezra was born on the very day you posted this! I continue to fall deeper and deeper in love w/ his name and am so glad we went w/ it.
My only qualm is some people do seem very ignorant to the -a ending. I expected some confusion as to our religious association, considering we are not Jewish, yet I only received one comment along those lines. Far more people that I have come in contact w/ think Ezra’s a girl’s name! :O
I think people will get more familiar w/ the name considering the rise of the -a(h)s that you wrote about in another post and also the growing popularity of less common biblical names. I am positive that many of the reactions I have received are due to my area, also known as Where Names Go to Die.
I receive some of the nicest possible compliments on Ezra’s name by those people who “get” it.
I will fully disclose that I <3 biblical names, if you haven’t gathered so already.
Congrats on your darling Ezra! So nice to hear about a boy with this name. Funny how the universe conspires … who knew that I’d posted it on his birthday?
I have run across someone suggesting Ezra as a girls’ name, but I choose to believe that she was just kidding. I’m not strongly against using masculine monikers for girls, I just can’t see why anyone would bother when there are so many great feminine choices out there.
Where Names Go To Die? LOL! Sounds like the area where I grew up – you can have any name you like, as long as it rhymes with Aiden.
I used to know a girl named Ezra, and another one named Azrah. I just makes me weep! Ezra is one of my favorite zippy boy names, and it’s a plus that my husband loves it also! He loves the band “Better than Ezra”. I have always secretly dreamed of having twin boys named Ezra and Boaz, both biblical, both four letters with the cool letter Z, it would be just so cool!
I think Ezra is beautiful, in fact it is the name of my baby born February 2008. It is a name that is resurfacing after being uncommon for many years. I have heard it’s a girl name, but I quickly point out its biblical origin. Many people who do not read the bible do not know this because it has not been common for quite some time.
Ezra is a nice boy’s name, but it’s so awful on a girl. It’s too bad that some people just don’t get it and think that, just because it ends in an “a”, it’s a girl’s name! I feel bad for any poor girl who is unfortunate enough to be named Ezra.
I have a son named Ezra, born in 2001. I knew the name was somewhat unusual, but I have been taken aback by how many people say they have never heard the name – people who go to church regularly!! The only people we have run into who have thought it was a girl’s name are from India. I understand there is an Indian girl’s name that sounds almost like Ezra.
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I can’t imagine that someone would actually name their daughter Ezra lol. Its not a bad name – for a BOY. Its way too harsh sounding for a girl + it has so much history as a hebrew male name. There are so many pretty girl names out there. Why use ezra? Might as well just name your daughter Noah or Harry lol.
Your post actually reminded me of something. Once I was in a park and there was a little boy named Kelly. An older irish man who was there with me at the time said “wow so refreshing to see Kelly on a boy. If you name a girl Kelly you might as well name her Patrick”. Pretty much what you said here haha but with other names.
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Ezra is a really handsome name, and very strong-sounding. I would definitely consider it, except I probably screened it out through other name choices.
Kudos to anyone who chooses this name though.
I was one of those who thought Ezra was a girl’s name years ago. Mind you, I was probably 12 or 13 at the time, but still. I think it would work fine on a girl, even as I know Evans, Michaels and Noahs that are women.
But it does work best as a boy’s name, to me. Unlike Ira. I want Ira firmly on the girl side and no one seems to agree.
Ira is definitely all male to me. I personally dont think names like Evan or Michael work well on a girl at all, but each to their own.
Whether we think of a name as male or female or both has a lot to do with if we know anyone with that name, in my humble opinion. I have a wonderful male, Jewish colleague in his 60s named Ira so there is no way I could ever picture Ira on a girl.
But with no frame of reference for a name, we only have our own intiution and cultural sound conventions to go on.
I think Ezra is getting ready to jump up a few places due to Ezra Fitz the name of a character in the pretty little liars book and television series. Along with Aria and Spencer on a girl.
I agree. It will definitely jump due to the hunky Ezra Fitz. It enlightened a lot of people that this really is a boy name! I’m a huge fan of the name Ezra.
I first came across Ezra when learning about Ezra Pound in American English class in highschool…I loved the name the first time I heard it because of everything you’ve mentioned…the unusual -a ending for boys paired with the spunky Z is adorable. Ezra would fit right in a small country town or in a chic metropolis.
Getting really fed up with my phone. I posted a comment using my new phone, but it didn’t show up. That’s just the 3rd or 4th time this has happened.
Anyway, I said something along the lines of, “Two and a half years later, and my opinion hasn’t changed. I still find it way too Jewish. I don’t hate biblical names, but the ones with religious overtones like Ezra, Caleb, Abel, etc., don’t end up on my list.”
I would say that because I do not have a religious background, the first time I heard Ezra I too thought it was a girls name because of the -A- ending something akin to Eliza or the butchered Ezme (Esme) and Eliz (Elise) . I see how it is on trend, and has significance for many people, but I think the soft ending throws me off and the strong religious undertones.. I probably wouldn’t use it. Funny that hard -o- endings dont throw me off for girls though… like Margot and Cleo.. love both of them
I love soft names way more than hard names for boys. Give me Ezra and Noah over Colton and Hunter anyday. I first heard of Ezra on a TV show called Higher Ground. It didnt really strike me as feminine if I think about, since I didn’t bat an eyelid.
I think -ah names are on trend, but I’m not sure if it’s at its most popular. Ira and Alva from the 1800s come to mind, Dana, Elisha, Ezra and Asa have been used for a long time too. Joshua is definitely the most popular ever, with probably Dakota right behind.
There are others also, but with lesser usage, such as state names Indiana and Montana, Shia and Shaya, even Kaia I’ve seen on a boy. Nikita, Nikola and Nicola are actually more used on boys in the US than girls, that surprised me.Then there’s the exotic names, Krishna, Kekoa, Kainoa, Indra, Akira, Mustafa, Hamza, Sasha, Misha, Mattia, etc.. And of course nouveau inventions (I think) like Koa, Koda, etc….
Oops how did I leave out Luca/Luka? Those are definitely reaching for the stars, although I do think as long as Lucas/Lukas is around, they’ll always be the bridesmaids.
Ezra is on our very short list for a boy. We went to LSU and love the subtle references Better than Ezra makes to our alma mater in their lyrics:-) To me Ezra is one of those ‘diamond in the rough’ names. I’d heard it my whole life without ever considering it, and then one day I saw it in your archive and it hit me like a ton a bricks; all shiny and new. I love it’s quirky sound and biblical reference, and it sounds great with our last name. My only reservation is how quickly its rising up the charts.
Funny, I bumped into an old high school classmate at a friend’s baby shower and she had a little 4 year old girl named Ezra. I was mortified but managed to cover it up and mentioned that Ezra Pound was one of my favorite poets, and commented on “how unique it was to give the name to a girl!”. She gave me a weird look and said that how she picked it out was- when she was pregnant with her Ezra, she came across a sweater in the female section at A&F and inside, it said “Ezra Fitch”. She assumed it was a girl’s name and took it from there. After further conversation, apparently she has never researched her daughter’s name once and had no idea it was a male name. How some people can do that, I don’t know.
I know a few people who gave little to no thought to doing name research, barely even picking up name books, let alone doing any online research. For every name nerd, there’s a name…bimbo?
Name bimbo, that’s genius!
We do think of bimbo as the opposite of nerd, don’t we?
HA!
Brilliant!
LOL Name bimbo!!! I am so using that on my husband!
My son is due in late Jan. and I am having a hard time picking out a name. So far I like Eli, and Camden. But after reading this I really like the sound of Ezra, it’s very different and I like it. My husband likes biblical names, but for some reason he doesn’t like Ezra. Sometimes I wish I could just name this child, why does he have to have a say
You could always try Elisha. Similar in sound, popular but not too common, and definitely not trendy.
Where do you live? I live in NY, and know a boy named Camden, and all I can think of is Camden, NJ. I suppose if I lived a little further south it would be Camden Yards. I think it’s a better name for people who live off the East Coast.
Ezra’s great. I worked for Cornell U, so Ezra’s definitely male in my book. There’s a little Ezra in the girls’ preschool class, and 2 Lucases in their preschool.
I love Ezra, but then there are very few biblical names I don’t like
I have a thing for E names and I think Ezra and Enoch would make a beautiful sibset. However I doubt I could use a name that jumped 100 spots in only 3 years, yikes!
I really don’t get how people think that Ezra is feminine, but I guess there is far less biblical knowledge than there used to be.
I like Ezra, too. But would you put him in the same family as Boaz? He’s on our list, currently, as a possibility, but not running as strong as Israel at the moment (a name you haven’t gotten to yet, I notice – hint! hint!)
BTW, I think Esdras was actually not the same guy. Ezra’s book is in the Bible, but then there are the books of First and Second Esdras in the apocrypha – if I remember correctly, they are books of wisdom, like Proverbs, not historic ones like Ezra. Could be mistaken, though. I don’t have an apocrypha near at hand … Thanks for helping us take another look at a great name! We only know one cute little blonde about 4 with this moniker so far.
I actually knew an Esdras. I grew up around a large Haitian community, and he was from Haiti…he had a beautiful name- Esdras d’Haiti. We went to high school together and were good friends, but he died tragically during wrestling practice, which I saw. I would love to use Esdras, but every time I see the name, I reenact my friend’s death in my head. :’(
I absolutely love the name Ezra. However, this past summer my aunt had twin boys and named one Ezra, so the name is now off limits for me. Thankfully I’m a writer, so instead of mourning the loss of the name, I used it for my main characters’ son.
I see this name as firmly masculine, but several people my age (teens) seem to think it’s a girl’s name. I actually had an argument with a friend after my cousins were born over whether or not it was a boy’s name. Personally I think it’s just lack of knowledge that makes people think this. The popular mindset seems to be that any name ending in a vowel sound is a girl’s name, something I’d really like to see change.
Good point, Emily!
maybe that’s where the confusion comes from…?
Though we only know one little Ezra, we do know two little girls, born about a week apart last year, both named Ezri.
I had a crush on a boy named Ezra in high school and have loved the name ever since.
I believe I’ve shared this story before, but I’ll do so again.
About a year ago my sister and I were at a cafe that caters to families with young children. We heard a mother calling her young son “Ezra!”, and my sister turned and asked me, the name nerd, whether Ezra was a popular name at present. I responded that, while not necessarily popular, it’s definitely on trend for boys, being both a name that begins with a vowel and an Old Testament name to boot. Later during the same day we headed over to a mall to do some shopping and once again came across a mother calling her young child “Ezra!”. The difference was that this time the kid in question was girl. I grinned at Emily and said something to the effect that I guess it’s on trend for both girls and boys.
I don’t personally know anyone with child, son or daughter, named Ezra, but I do have two friends with young kids named Azariah, one boy, one girl.
I understand that some parents, combing the Old Testament for names, might lament that there are far fewer girls’ names to be found than boys’, but when you look at names as a whole, there are so many more available girls’ names than boys’, it’s a shame that some of these strong-yet-lyrical boys’ names are going to the girls.
The blogger Amalah has an Ezra and during his pregnancy she wrote a pregnancy calendar for Alphamom. Since both of the Ezras I know IRL where born shortly after Amalah’s, I’ve always wondered if their names were influenced by her column.
Ezra Jack Keats is one of my favorite picture books authors, he would make a wonderful namesake.
That’s a blog name that fascinates me! I discovered her when she started writing for Babble, but I just realized that’s she’s another Amy! She’s definitely popular enough to have encouraged a few people to consider Ezra … Now if Ike catches on, after the third son? We’ll know she’s a trendsetter!
Ezra’s 3 1/2 now, and I love his name even more today. Don’t tell my other kids, but his is the name I’m most content with.
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