Esthela
Star or star-like, a feminine name of Greek origin.
Name Census estimates that about 381 living Americans carry the first name Esthela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Esthela today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Esthela births was 2002 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Esthela. 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.
People living today
381
~ 1 in 899,618 Americans
Peak year
2002
18 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,703
Tracked since 1952
Census
Esthela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,845 people with the first name Esthela, which placed it at #7,988 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
#7,988
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,845 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Esthela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esthela is Hispanic at 98.9%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.2%). 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 Esthela 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 Esthela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.9% · 1,825
- White0.7% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
- Black or African American0.1% · 1
Popularity
Esthela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Esthela from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 108 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Esthela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Esthela 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 Esthela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Esthelas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Esthela
Esthela is a feminine given name with roots that can be traced back to the ancient Greek language. It is believed to be a variant or diminutive form of the name Esther, which itself is derived from the Old Persian word "Sitareh," meaning "star." The name Esther gained prominence through its association with the biblical figure Queen Esther, the heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Esthela can be found in historical documents from the medieval period in parts of Europe, particularly in regions with strong ties to the Greek Orthodox Christian tradition. It was sometimes used as a feminine counterpart to the masculine name Estefan or Esteban, which also had Greek origins.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Esthela was Esthela de Grandval, a French noblewoman and philanthropist who lived in the 13th century. She is remembered for her charitable works and for founding a hospice for the poor and sick in the city of Paris.
Another individual of historical significance was Esthela de Burgos, a 14th-century Spanish poet and scholar who was renowned for her contributions to the literary arts during the reign of King Alfonso XI of Castile.
In the realm of religious history, there are records of an Esthela de la Cruz, a 16th-century Spanish nun who was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1675 for her pious and exemplary life.
Moving forward in time, one of the most famous bearers of the name Esthela was Esthela Margarita Calderón de la Barca (1804-1882), a Mexican-born writer and traveler who authored the influential book "Life in Mexico" during her time as the wife of the Spanish ambassador to Mexico.
Additionally, Esthela Torres (1900-1988) was a notable Ecuadorian painter and sculptor who played a significant role in the development of modern art in her home country during the 20th century.
While the name Esthela may not be as widely used today as it once was, it carries a rich historical legacy that spans continents and centuries, reflecting the cultural influences of both ancient civilizations and more recent eras.
People
Esthela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Esthela 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
Esthela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Esthela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 381 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Esthela 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 899,618 US residents.
Is Esthela a common name?
We classify Esthela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 395 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Esthela most popular?
The single biggest year for Esthela was 2002, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Esthela is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Esthela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,845 people with the name Esthela, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,988 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 Esthela 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 Esthela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Esthela appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,842 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Esthela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Esthela is Hispanic at 98.9%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.2%). 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 Esthela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Esthela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.9% (1,825 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 Esthela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Esthela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Esthela 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 Esthela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Esthela 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 Esthela 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 common is the name Esthela?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.