Are esn and meid the same thing?

I'm trying to activte my iPhone and it asks for the esn# is that the same as meid?

Yes or it can also be the IMEI on a 4gLTE device.

For the most part, yes they are the same. They are the unique number of a cellular device to identify that device to a mobile phone network.

Yes. It's the same thing. Just a different name.