Ester

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Esther in GR Greece.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ester is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name414K records spelled Ester71 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Netherlands, Nigeria

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written Esther, Ësthër, 'Esther, Esthër, Éster

• Finnish given name94K records spelled Ester7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Slovenia, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian

  Also written Éster, Estér, Eşter, Éstęr, Ëstër

• Czech given name50K records spelled Ester55 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, United States, Poland, Russia

  Languages: Czech, Russian, Polish

  Also written Esther, Эстер, Естер, Hester, Эстэр

• Catalan given name32K records spelled Ester7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, France, United States, Tanzania

  Languages: Catalan, French

  Also written Éster, Èster, Eşter, Estér, Éstér

• Indonesian given name22K records spelled Ester3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Ester

• a separate given name21K records spelled Ester6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy

  Also written Esṭer, Èster, Estēr, Ėster, Estér

• Turkish given name6.4K records spelled Ester3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, United States, Spain, Italy

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Éster

• Albanian given name4.3K records spelled Ester3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Albania, United States, Italy, Spain

  Also written Estër, Ęśtēŗ

62 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ester is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains the functional group carbon-oxygen double bond (i.e., carbonyl) joined via carbon to another oxygen atom.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, Esther (biblical character)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Italian, Nome biblico, forse di origine persiana; significa 'stella'.

  as a name·Dizionario Dei Nomi e Cognomi Italiani

• In Swedish, Ester är ett bibliskt namn, bildat till antingen ett persiskt stareh ’stjärna’ eller till namnet på den babyloniska kärleksgudinnan Ishtar. Namnet har varit populärt under de senaste decennierna. En finsk form är Esteri. I den rikssvenska almanackan 31 mars och i den finlandssvenska 16 maj.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In Italian, S o m e biblico, forse non ebraico. nio persiano. Signi- ficherebbe ci stella ». Piìi iisa1.o dngli Israeliti 'he dai

  as a name·Nomi e Cognomi: Saggio di ricerche etimologiche e storiche

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 145 years between 1881–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Estée Lauderb. 1906USnot in their usual nameAmerican businesswoman (1906–2004)
• Esther Williamsb. 1921USnot in their usual nameAmerican swimmer, actress and singer (1921–2013)
• Katherine Jacksonb. 1930USnot in their usual namematriarch of the Jackson musical family
• Gretchen Whitmerb. 1971USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician and attorney (born 1971)
• Esther Duflob. 1972FRnot in their usual nameFrench-American economist (born 1972)
• Esther Vergeerb. 1981NLnot in their usual nameDutch wheelchair tennis player
• Esther Acebob. 1983ESnot in their usual nameSpanish actress
• Ester Deanb. 1986USAmerican singer and songwriter
• Ester Ledeckáb. 1995CZCzech snowboarder and skier
• Ester Expósitob. 2000ESSpanish actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,229 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ester?

We estimate roughly 514 thousand people bear Ester (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Ester have the most bearers?

Ester is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled ester.

Where is Ester most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Ester is densest in Hungary — about 1 in 163 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Ester compared with other names?

In Argentina, Ester is the 109th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Ester a male or female name?

Ester is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ester mean?

Recorded meaning: variant of Ishtar, the Babylonian Venus; later linked to Persian/Hebrew forms meaning ‘star’ or ‘myrtle’.