This probably doesn't help, but the name Esaias is a version of Isaiah. I've never come across it as a surname, but there are 11 guys in my ancestry with Esaias as a first name, and even more have it as a middle name. The line in question is not Jewish and originated in Devon (afaik) with the first use of the name in 1656. The last one died in 1986. I keep trying to persuade childbearing members of the family to revive it, to no avail! ;) Joss Rosemary wrote: A friend of mine has asked for help in searching for his ancestor, William Peter Esaias, whose father was Peter Esaias. They lived possibly in Allahabad around the 1860s onwards. I have done a search on the LDS site, but the name is elusive. I am wondering if it is of Jewish or Armenian origin, hence the lack of entries in church registers.