Essam (Arabic: عِصام ‘iṣām) is an Arabic male given name and surname. It means "defended; protected; well-preserved; well-protected; well-kept; preserved; reserved; safeguarded".

Notable people with the surname Essam include:

• Anne Essam (born 1992). Cameroonian handball player
• Chloe Essam (born 1999), English netball player
• Connor Essam (born 1992), English footballer
• Fahad Essam (born 1988), Saudi football player
• Habiba Essam (born 2007), Egyptian footballer
• Mohamed Essam (fencer) (born 1994), Egyptian fencer
• Mohamed Essam (Egyptian footballer) (born 1994), Egyptian footballer
• Mostafa Essam (born 2003), Qatari footballer
• Orjuan Essam, Sudanese footballer
• Ramy Essam (born 1987), Egyptian musician
• Sarah Essam (born 1999), Egyptian footballer
• Shehab Essam (born 1995), Egyptian squash player

Notable people with the given name Essam include:

• Essam Abdel-Azim (born 1970), Egyptian footballer
• Essam Abdel-Fatah (born 1965), Egyptian football referee
• Essam Ali, Egyptian footballer
• Essam Awad (born 1962), Egyptian volleyball player
• Essam Baheeg (1931–2008), Egyptian football player and coach
• Essam al-Buwaydhani, Syrian rebel leader
• Essam al-Da'alis (1966–2024), Palestinian politician and Hamas member
• Essam Dhahi (born 1983), Emirati footballer
• Essam el-Erian (1954–2020), Egyptian physician and politician
• Essam El-Gindy (born 1966), Egyptian chess Grandmaster
• Essam El Hadary (born 1973), Egyptian footballer
• Essam El-Haddad (1953), Egyptian politician
• Essam Heggy (born 1975), Egyptian space scientist
• Essam Khalaf, Bahraini politician
• Essam E. Khalil (born 1948), Egyptian engineer and academic
• Essam Khalil (politician), Egyptian businessman
• Essam Mahmoud (born 1977), Egyptian football goalkeeper
• Essam Marei (born 1965), Egyptian footballer
• Essam Marzouk, Egyptian terrorist
• Essam Mubaideen (born 1986), Jordanian footballer
• Essam al-Qamari, Egyptian army official
• Essam Ramadan (born 1957), Egyptian volleyball player
• Essam al-Ridi, American member of al-Qaeda
• Essam Hamad Salem (born 1973), Iraqi football player and coach
• Essam Sharaf (born 1952), Egyptian academic
• Essam Shiha, Egyptian lawyer, politician and human rights activist
• Essam Tharwat (born 1986), Egyptian footballer
• Essam Abu Touk (born 1977), Jordanian footballer
• Essam Yassin (born 1987), Iraqi footballer
• Essam Yousef, Egyptian novelist and TV host
• Essam Zeino, Syrian footballer

• All pages with titles containing Essam
• Esam (given name)
• Issam