Esther

What does the name Esther mean?

Esther is the Jewish heroine of the biblical book of Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and saves her people. The book says her Hebrew name was Hadassah, 'myrtle'. The origin of Esther itself is disputed: DMNES gives either a Persian word for 'star' or the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, and Wiktionary and Wikipedia mention the Persian 'star' link. Wikipedia also notes a traditional reading from a Hebrew root meaning 'to hide'. DMNES says the name came into Christian use among 16th-century Protestants.

אֶסְתֵּר (Biblical Hebrew, “Ester”)*star- (Old Persian, “star (proposed)”)הֲדַסָּה (Biblical Hebrew, “Hadassah, myrtle”)

How sure is this? Disputed. DMNES: Persian 'star' or the goddess name Ishtar. The Hebrew 'hidden' reading is traditional wordplay.

Related names: Hester, Ester, Hadassah, Essie, Estée.

See also: Persian names.

Nicknames for Esther

The usual nicknames for Esther are Essie and Hettie. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Esther in the last five years, 2 were named Essie, against fewer than 1 twenty years earlier.

Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Esthers go by each one.

Esther popularity since 1880

A few boys are given the name too: 972 since 1890.

How popular is Esther, counting every spelling?

Esther is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #137 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #119 for Esther on its own. Together these spellings went to 2,411 girls in 2025.

Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.

How many kids will share the name Esther?

2,277 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Esther (0.63 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Esther born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 4 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Esther.

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Esther?

About 100,900 people born in the US named Esther are alive today, with a median age of 39; half are between 14 and 69. That makes Esther mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties. The wide spread shows a name popular in two different eras.

Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.

Esther by state

How common Esther was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New Jersey (4.6×), New York (3.9×), Alaska (3.0×), Montana (2.1×), Idaho (1.9×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Mexico, West Virginia, District of Columbia.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Esther: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Esther, they share its era and feel.

• Hilda
• Margaret
• Marie
• Vera
• Leona
• Freda

Questions about the name Esther