The baby name Esau comes from a famous Old Testament story. But unlike Noah and Jacob, it’s seldom heard today.
Thanks to Maris for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
JACOB’S OLDER BROTHER
The Old Testament story of Isaac and Rebecca is well-known. After many years of waiting, the couple welcomed twin sons: Esau, the firstborn, and Jacob, the younger son.
The meaning of the name Esau is debated. It’s often linked to a word meaning hairy; it might also mean red. In any case, Esau becomes a hunter. He’s kind of rough and tumble. It’s pretty clear that Jacob is the favored son; ultimately, he’s the one named his father’s heir through a mix of subterfuge and shortsightedness.
Or possibly worse.
The New Testament Romans 9:13 line “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated,” pretty much sums up what most of us recall of the story.
The 1980 Newbery Medal-winning young adult novel Jacob Have I Loved explores the story through a different set of twins – sisters, growing up in the 1940s. But it helps cement the story of the siblings. The book was probably on every school library shelf as this generation of parents came of age, and makes the story of Jacob and Esau known beyond Sunday school.
For what it’s worth, the brothers did eventually reconcile.
Esau is considered the ancestor of the Edomites, an ancient kingdom in the Middle East. More on that in a bit.
HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE ESAU?
While pronunciation will vary by language, most English speakers say Esau like ee-saw.
Few names sound anything like the baby name Esau. There’s Esai, though that’s a cousin to Isaiah, possibly influenced by Esau.
The “sau” sound occurs in Saul and, to a lesser degree, in Sawyer, too. The vowel sound is shared with names like Lawrence and Paul.
Overall, it’s distinctive without being wildly different.
MEDIEVAL RULER
Esau de’ Buondelmonti ruled the Greek city of Ioannina from 1385 to 1411.
The son of a Florentine nobleman, Esau was offered the position, marrying his predecessor’s widow to secure the role.
It’s not clear if his name was unusual for his historical period or language. But it’s worth noting that the Biblical story of Esau sometimes connects his descendants – the Edomites – to the founding of Rome. That’s because Romulus, the city’s founder, is sometimes considered an Edomite.
It’s not clear if the story would’ve been known as the time of Esau’s birth in Florence, but perhaps that name would’ve been considered auspicious. His family played a major role in Florentine politics, though, and their legacy is still visible in the city today.
Esau
Overlooked Biblical boy name
An old school name with plenty of vowel-forward appeal, Esau’s history as the troublemaking twin of Jacob probably puts this name at a disadvantage. But on sound? It succeeds.
Popularity
Given to just 44 boys in 2022
Trend
Holding steady, but used in very small numbers
Origin
From a Hebrew name, Esau might mean hairy or red, but he’s best remembered as Jacob’s twin in the Old Testament
SURNAME NAME
It’s also occasionally heard as a surname.
During the seventeenth century, Esau became a favorite choice among the Nonconformists.
In brief, back in 1662, the Act of Uniformity laid out many practices and beliefs that we associate with the Church of England today. Protestant Christians who didn’t adopt those norms were called Nonconformists. Many denominations that we now think of as perfectly mainstream would’ve been included under that umbrella.
This meant that Nonconformist parents didn’t necessarily have their children baptized in the Church of England. Wales, in particular, was a hotbed of activity. Estimates suggest that 75% of the Welsh population were Nonconformists by the middle of the 1800s.
They adopted Biblical given names, and sometimes those first names became surnames – as was the case with Esau.
In fact, the baby name Esau was among the Top 200 in England and Wales circa 1850.
BY the NUMBERS
So how popular is the baby name Esau?
As of 2022, just 44 boys born in the US received the name. It peaked in the year 2007 with 82 births.
That’s pretty rare. Back in the day, small numbers still put names in the US Top 1000, but Esau last appeared in 1902.
ESAU in POP CULTURE
There’s a minor figure in Marvel’s X-Men comics named Esau Shaw.
In Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Esau Pierce is a supporting character. While Bass Reeves was a historical figure – among the first African-American US Marshals – Pierce was not. (More information – and spoilers – here.)
INTERNATIONAL NAME
The baby name Esau is heard across the globe, in countries like Tonga, Kenya, Zambia, Grenada, and Honduras – all countries with Christian populations, but few that report data on given name use.
A village in Guyana, Africa, was named Esau and Jacob by Dutch settlers. Only a handful of people call it home today.
BOLD BIBLICAL RARITY
All of this makes the baby name Esau something of a bold, Biblical rarity.
On sound alone, Esau is intriguing. Like Boaz or Jubal, few names sound anything like it. But it’s undeniably a historical choice, used across languages and centuries.
The potential connection to Rome is fascinating – maybe even enough to compensate for the reputation as the less-favored son.
If Old Testament rarities appeal to you, the baby name Esau might deserve a closer look.
What do you think of the baby name Esau?
First published on May 24, 2011, this post was revised and updated on February 20, 2024.
I’m not a fan of the sound personally — too hee haw for my tastes. However, I don’t think “bad twin” when I hear the name. Esau was just a bit (or a lot) dumb. He foolishly sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils. Now I like lentils, but not that much! It seems he smartened up a bit as he got older, and one could even argue that he was the nice twin; when Jacob returned to meet him after many years’ separation Esau offered him both forgiveness and friendship. Jacob had somewhat cowardly sent his wives and household on ahead of himself in case Esau greeted him with violence and anger.
Not for me. But it brings to mind a question: Why is Cain (and Kane and Cane and Caine and Kaine) getting popular, but not Abel?
Cain, being a murderer, seems “bad boy”. He can be seen as a rebel against orthodoxy who got frustrated with a seemingly arbitrary worship system (God likes meat, not vegetables). Maybe he’s even a vegetarian hero???!!
Abel’s a victim, not to mention a pious one. Nobody wants to name their child after a victim.
Although personally, I prefer the name Abel to Cain. It just sounds more positive to me.
I choose to believe parents are choosing Kane/Caine because of the surname, a la Michael Caine* and Charles Foster Kane. But I’m guessing at least some parents are picking the name because of the saying “raising Cain.”
Why oh why would you want to name your child after such a violent expression?
Why do people name their sons Gunner and Cannon?
I LOVE the name Abel 🙂 Kane/Cane not so much…
Aw, I’ve always loved Esau. I think part of what keeps him down is that his pronunciation isn’t always obvious. Even I sometimes forget if it’s EE-saw or EE-S-OW. And yes, it would be difficult to give that connotation of ‘bad twin’ to a child.
I personally like Esau because he sounds like Isa which is the Arabic for Jesus. Not the same name but a similar sound and Biblical. Works for me!
One novel that really solidified my love for the name Esau is the Orson Scott Card book “Rebekah” from his Women of Genesis series. The book goes into great detail about Esau’s nickname Edom because of his red hair. I’m too rusty on my Jewish history, but I’m pretty sure Edom is a name that hasn’t exactly caught on either.
There’s the actor Esai Morales (I thought he was Esau). Esai seems more modern to me.
Esau was put out as a potential name for the kid who became Simon. Bumbling, ineffective and above all, whiny. That’s the Biblical Esau to me. And Simon being half of twins… well, suffice to say I didn’t like the thought of Leo & Esau. Nevermind that they rhyme a tiny bit!
I don’t like Jacob either, hecomes across as a little bit of an opportunist to me. A tiny bit of braggart and quite full of himself. So I’ll never use Jacob either: popular or not. I like Biblical names but prefer mine a bit more consonant heavy. My favorites right now? Vashti & Boaz. Have you covered those two, Abby? If not, maybe you can?
Here is Boaz https://appellationmountain.net/2009/06/18/name-of-the-day-boaz/
I second Vashti, though; love it’s velvety feel, even though it’s not my usual style. It also reminds me of Vashti Bunyan, one of my favourite singers!
Thanks, I’ll read it now!
Thanks for featuring Esau today. The rise in vowel-laden names is what got me thinking about Esau.
The donkey connection is interesting to me, because that’s what I hear with Brayden, Brayleigh and all the “bray” names.
According to Nancy,
https://www.nancy.cc/boy-names-that-start-with-the-letter-e/
57 boys were named Esau last year in the US. With about one per state chances are slim I’ll ever encounter one. Perhaps as a middle name?
I grew up in a religious household, and I don’t really think failure so much as “not smart.” Esau is portrayed as being kind of a blundering box of rocks. Not something I want to associate with any future children . . .
I think it’s because no one knows how to pronounce it — you hear it in church, but it’s not exactly an everyday kind of story or reference. I know it’s Eee-saw, but Es-way or Es-a-you make just as much sense based on spelling alone. None of those things are tremendously attractive as names.
I think the sound of the name plus its strange look — so many vowels — has kept Esau from being given in large numbers to little boys from 1880 to the present. Esau has made the SSA Top 1000 only four times (1890, 1894, 1897, 1902) and at that, always in the 900s. Not only was Jacob the more successful biblical twin, but his name sounds so much stronger and appealing and has the cool nn Jake.
And Meryl is right: the name Esau — hee haw — makes me think of a donkey too.
I just can’t get past the donkey-like “hee haw” resemblance… :/