Ester
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "star".
Name Census estimates that about 8,275 living Americans carry the first name Ester. It is a predominantly female name (94.8% of registrations). The average person named Ester today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ester births was 1925 (307 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ester. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ester with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.3K
~ 1 in 41,420 Americans
Peak year
1925
307 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1985 SSA rank
#1,508
Tracked since 1881
Census
Ester in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,876 people with the first name Ester, which placed it at #1,835 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,835
National first-name rank
People counted
16K
15,876 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ester
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ester is Hispanic at 45.7%. The next largest groups are White (26.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ester described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ester at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino45.7% · 7,261
- White26.9% · 4,271
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.8% · 2,039
- Black or African American12.5% · 1,992
- Two or more races1.2% · 197
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 116
Gender
Gender distribution for Ester
Ester leans heavily female at 94.8% of total registrations, but 891 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ester as a male name
- Ranked #6,027 in 1985
- 6 male births in 1985
- Peak: 1914 (31 births)
Ester as a female name
- Ranked #1,508 in 2024
- 143 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1925 (281 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ester leans strongly female. 15,663 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 206 male bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Ester: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ester from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,595 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ester by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ester during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Esters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Ester, while Wisconsin, Oregon, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 309 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ester
The name Ester has its origins in the Persian language, derived from the word "Sitareh" or "Setareh," which means "star." The name likely emerged during the ancient Persian civilization, which flourished around the 6th century BCE. It was a popular name among Persian women and found its way into other cultures through the spread of the Persian Empire.
The name gained significant recognition in the Hebrew Bible, where it appears as the name of the central figure in the Book of Esther. According to the biblical account, Esther was a Jewish woman who became the queen of Persia and played a pivotal role in saving her people from persecution. This association with a courageous and influential figure in the Hebrew scriptures contributed to the name's popularity among Jewish communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ester can be found in the Book of Esther, which is believed to have been written sometime between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. The name also appears in various ancient Persian texts, attesting to its Persian origins and widespread use in that region.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ester. One of the most famous was Esther of Bethlehem (c. 1350 – c. 1381), a Judean woman who lived during the Crusader period and was known for her piety and charitable works. Another significant figure was Esther Shalom (1631-1708), a Jewish businesswoman from Amsterdam who played a vital role in supporting Jewish communities across Europe.
Other notable individuals with the name Ester include Esther Friesner (born 1951), an American author known for her contributions to the fantasy and science fiction genres, and Esther Burgeons (born 1962), a Belgian artist and sculptor renowned for her large-scale public installations.
The name Ester has also been embraced by various cultures and languages, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. For example, in Spanish, it is commonly spelled "Ester," while in French, it is often rendered as "Esther." The name's association with a strong biblical figure and its Persian origins have contributed to its enduring popularity across different cultures and time periods.
People
Ester + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ester as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ester: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ester?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,275 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ester going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 41,420 US residents.
Is Ester a common name?
We classify Ester as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,018 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ester most popular?
The single biggest year for Ester was 1925, when 307 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ester is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ester in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,876 people with the name Ester, or 5.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,835 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ester in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ester?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ester leans strongly female. 15,663 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 206 male bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ester?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ester is Hispanic at 45.7%. The next largest groups are White (26.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ester most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ester in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (7,261 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ester in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ester a female name?
Yes, 94.8% of people registered as Ester in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ester still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ester in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ester can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Ester?
See how many people have the name Ester on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.