ninan.org

Esther

Girls' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~105,900 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#119 among girls
Births in 2025
2,277 272,206 since 1880
Typical age
40 years, median

Esther popularity over time

Esther rank by birth year, 1880–2025Esther ranked #104 in 1880 and #119 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #27, in 1896.#100#119best #27 in 189618901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Esther was used most in 1918, when 6,588 babies were given the name. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Across the record, 54 years put Esther in the top 100.

The 2025 position is #119, on 2,277 births. Over ten years the count has risen 40%.

Babies named Esther per yearPeaks at 6,588 births in 1918.6,588 in 1918018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Esther?

An estimated 105,900 living Americans are called Esther. SSA has recorded 272,206 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Esther?

The typical living Esther is 40 years old. Most living bearers were born in the 2010s. By the site’s era rules that makes Esther a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Esther

Ages of living people named EstherHalf of living Esthers are older than 40 and half younger.median 40020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Esther is most common

Relative to births, New Jersey carries 4.4× the national share of Esthers. New York, Alaska and Idaho follow.

Where Esther is used more than average5 states use the name Esther more than the national average.Alaska: 1.8× the national rateAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.5× the national rateWAIdaho: 1.7× the national rateIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 4.0× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 4.4× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Esther is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Jersey 1,917 4.4×
New York 3,928 4.0×
Alaska 47 1.8×
Idaho 141 1.7×
Washington 536 1.5×

Esther in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Esther ranked #150 in 2025 on 333 births.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Esther comes from

From Ancient Greek Ἐσθήρ, from Biblical Hebrew אֶסְתֵּר. Has been connected to Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎼 (“star”) (whence Middle Persian 𐭮𐭲𐭫 (“star”), 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 (“star”), Persian ستاره (“star”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (if so, a distant Doublet of star); or else to Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (“Ishtar”) (Hebrew עִשְׁתָּר).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Esther

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Esther Duflo French-American economist 1972 70
Esther Williams American swimmer, actress and singer 1921–2013 50
Esther Brand South African former athlete 1922–2015 30
Esther Vilar Argentine writer 1935 29
Esther Lederberg American microbiologist and pioneer of bacterial genetics 1922–2006 29
Esther Vergeer Dutch wheelchair tennis player 1981 27
Esther Rolle actress 1920–1998 26
Esther Ofarim Israeli singer 1941 25
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 829 in 1892 to 1,387 in 1893 — 1.7 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Esther

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Esther was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/esther.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).