How popular is the baby name Essien in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Essien.

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Popularity of the baby name Essien


Posts that mention the name Essien

Where did the baby name Essien come from in 2006?

Soccer player Michael Essien
Michael Essien

The name Essien first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2006:

  • 2008: unlisted
  • 2007: 5 baby boys named Essien
  • 2006: 6 baby boys named Essien [debut]
  • 2005: unlisted
  • 2004: unlisted

Where did it come from?

My guess is Ghanaian professional soccer player Michael Essien (pronounced eh-see-ehn), a midfielder who was particularly successful in the mid-aughts.

In 2005, Essien — after winning back-to-back Ligue 1 championships with French football club Olympique Lyonnais — was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year. Over the summer, he was transferred to English football club Chelsea (for a club-record fee of £24.4 million) and went on to win the Premier League championship in 2006.

On the international stage, Essien helped the Ghana national football team qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time ever in 2006. Notably, Ghana was the only African team to reach the second round of the tournament that year.

What are your thoughts on Essien as a first name?

P.S. I’ve added Essien (which is pronounced like the names of the letters s, e, and n) to our growing list of names spelled with names of letters…

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Essien Real Madrid by Ultraslansi under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Baby names spelled with the names of letters: Ivy (IV), Casey (KC), Ellie (LE)

A reader named Becky recently emailed me with a rather cool request:

We’re looking for a girl name that has an actual spelling and letter combinations to represent the word. For example Evie (EV) and Katie (KT). Any suggestions would be great!

Here’s a long list of (mostly female) names that can be spelled with the names of letters. Some of the letter strings don’t quite replicate the pronunciation of the corresponding name, but, even if they don’t match perfectly, they do come pretty close.

Can you guys think of any others? Let me know and I’ll add them!

Update, 2015: Here’s a baby girl named Elloebee, a phonetic spelling of the acronym LOB (“legion of boom”).

Update, Feb. 2025: Just spotted the name Effely (FLE) in an article about Cambridgeshire baby names.

Update, Apr. 2025: Just learned about a college basketball player named Azzi Fudd, first name pronounced like the letters A and Z.

[Latest update: Apr. 2025]