Ester
Feminine · “A star”
Ester is given to both — 16,265 girls and 891 boys since 1880. See Ester as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Ester is the spelling most of Europe uses, without the h that English inserted — and the h was never pronounced in any language. The book the name comes from exists in two versions that do not agree about what is in it.
How old is the name Ester?
Ester first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Ester alive today was born around 1949, making them about 76 years old. About 9,000 people named Ester are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ester most popular?
Ester peaked in 1905, reaching #367 nationally. Today it ranks #1570, 1,203 places below that high. See the whole 1905 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ester to Ester
The story of Ester
The Hebrew version of the book is famously secular: no prayers, no miracles, no mention of God anywhere in it. The Greek version, translated a century or two later, is not — it contains long prayers, a dream, an explanation of the dream, and a scene at court written in a completely different register, amounting to six substantial passages that the Hebrew does not have. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles print them; Protestant ones either omit them or put them in a separate section. So a reader's sense of what kind of book it is depends entirely on which edition they picked up: a court intrigue with no religion in it, or a devotional text with prayers at the crisis.
Meaningscholars disagree
A star, or the goddess Ishtar — the two readings compete
Two readings compete. One connects the name to the Persian word for a star; the other, better supported, takes it from the Babylonian goddess Ishtar — which would make it one of a pair, since the man beside her in the story carries a name built on another Babylonian god. Neither is settled.
How the name formed
- Ester
- Esther
Related forms: Ester · Ester · Ester · Esther
Pronouncing Ester
ES-ter
Two syllables, stress at the front. Spanish and Italian say it the same way; the English h in the longer spelling has never been sounded.
Nicknames for Ester
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1881
- Most girls named
- 1925281 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #367reached in 1905
- Change vs 2022
- −2.9%134 in 2025, from 138
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ester in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ester in Spanish — same name
- Ester in Italian — same name
- Ester in Portuguese — same name
- Esther in Hebrew — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, California.
Esters among us
people named Ester are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 11,995 born in 2025 was named Ester
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Ester sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ester is headed
Ester should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ester beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ester in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is spelled this way across most of Europe and read correctly everywhere.
- It carries a story that three religious traditions know.
- The short forms are numerous and quite different from each other.
- English speakers will add the h back on every form she fills in.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though it belongs overwhelmingly to the girls.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled between a star and a goddess.
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What they receive
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Ester
Feminine · #1570 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Esters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,000 people named Ester are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ester in 2025?
- Ester ranks #1570 among US girl names in 2025, with 134 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ester?
- About 1 in every 11,995 US girls born in 2025 was named Ester — 134 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ester with classmates?
- Ester will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ester
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Yitty#1570 · Vaeda#1570 · Britney#1570 · Ziva#1570 · Angeline#1570 · Emberlee#1570 · Kamilla#1570 · Kaylynn#1570
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ester? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ester and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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