Esther

What Esther means

Means “star”

Has been connected to Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎼 (a-s-t-r /⁠star-⁠/, “star”) (whence Middle Persian 𐭮𐭲𐭫 (stl /⁠star⁠/, “star”), 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 (stʾlk /⁠stārag⁠/, “star”), Persian ستاره (sitāra / setâre, “star”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (if so, a dis

Source: Wiktionary, “Esther” (revision 93542378), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Esther?

US: Rising: up from #203 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #154 in 2015, #150 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1896, when 1,964 girls got the name (#27 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 706 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 761 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 942 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NJ (6.99 per 1,000 girls), NY (5.46 per 1,000 girls), AK (5.44 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Esther is #119 in the US and #150 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Esther were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Ester

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Esther

Girls

• Ezra#833Editor’s note Up from #1,199 in 2015 to #833 in 2025 in the US
• Delilah#51Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #115 in 2015, #51 in 2025
• Naomi#47“my pleasantness”^*
• Ruth#173Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 26,102 babies; 1,781 in 2025
• Noah#624Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,588 in 2015, #624 in 2025
• Samira#723Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1961, with 5 babies

For a brother

• Samson#477Editor’s note Up from #618 in 2015 to #477 in 2025 in the US
• Ezra#20Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #93 in 2015, #20 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters
• Jethro#952Editor’s note Up from #1,481 in 2015 to #952 in 2025 in the US
• Jasper#129Editor’s note Up from #214 in 2015 to #129 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 610 US boys in the 2025 records
• Matthias#372From Biblical Hebrew, meaning “gift of Yahweh”^*
• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Persian, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Esther’s. Rank is US 2025.