Given name & surname · also Late Latin
Esperanza
“hope”·“filled with hope”
Esperanza is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “hope” (Late Latin) and “filled with hope” (Spanish). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Spanishเอซเปรันซฺา
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “hope” (Late Latin) and “filled with hope” (Spanish). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Late Latin.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1903. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Esperanza through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 20,884
- 35 boys · 20,849 girls
- Most popular year
- 2000
- 499 babies
- 2025
- 188
- #1,209 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −12%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 188 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,209 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 12.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 499 in 2000. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (43). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 36,013 as a first name in 2020; 1,275 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Esperanza’s family of names
In Spanish usage, Esperanza shares a linguistic root with the Yiddish form שפּרינצע. In Spanish usage, Esperanza has a conventional equivalent in the English form Hope. Esperanza has a related form in Esperansa.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Esperanza has relatives in 8 languages. Lines run from its Spanish roots to each of them.
Spanishwhere Esperanza comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Esperansavariant
- Esperranzalikely variant
- Esperanseavariant
- Esperansevariant
- Esperansiavariant
- Esperansahvariant
- Esperanzeavariant
- Esperanzevariant
Show 2 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Esperanza
- Esperanza SpaldingAmerican jazz bassist and singer (born 1984)
- Esperanza AguirreSpanish politician and peeressborn 1952
- Esperanza RoySpanish actressborn 1935
- Esperanza BaurMexican actress (1920–1961)
- Ella LaborielMexican singer and actress (1945–2026)
- Esperanza Martínez-RomeroMexican microbiologistborn 1957
- Esperanza MalchiOttoman kira and business woman1501–1600
- Esperanza MartínezParaguayan politician, Public Health Minister and current Senator of the Nationborn 1959
- Esperanza PizarroUruguayan footballerborn 2001
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Esperanza, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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