Estle
An English feminine diminutive form of the name Esther, meaning "star".
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the first name Estle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Estle today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Estle births was 1920 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Estle. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Estle is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Estles were born before 1953.
People living today
118
~ 1 in 2,904,698 Americans
Peak year
1920
46 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1960 SSA rank
#4,216
Tracked since 1896
Census
Estle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 164 people with the first name Estle, which placed it at #43,191 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
#43,191
National first-name rank
People counted
164
164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Estle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Estle is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Estle 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 Estle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.4% · 140
- Two or more races7.3% · 12
- Black or African American3.7% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Estle
Estle leans heavily male at 89.4% of total registrations, but 80 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Estle as a male name
- Ranked #4,216 in 1960
- 5 male births in 1960
- Peak: 1920 (38 births)
Estle as a female name
- Ranked #4,628 in 1932
- 5 female births in 1932
- Peak: 1916 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Estle leans strongly male. 139 people counted with this name were male (85.3%), compared with 24 female bearers (14.7%).
Popularity
Estle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Estle from the 1890s through to the 1960s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 243 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
Estle 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 Estle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Estles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri recorded the most babies named Estle, while Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Estle
The given name Estle is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with its roots dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. The name is thought to be derived from the Old English word "ēastdæl," which translates to "eastern region" or "eastern part," referring to the eastern regions of England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Estle can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and holdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This historical document mentions an individual named Estle, who was a landowner in the county of Norfolk.
In the Middle Ages, the name Estle was particularly prevalent in the eastern counties of England, such as Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. It was often associated with individuals from rural areas or those involved in agricultural pursuits.
One notable figure from history bearing the name Estle was Sir Estle Woodhouse (c. 1470-1534), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Norfolk during the reign of Henry VIII. Woodhouse played a significant role in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, overseeing the surrender of several religious houses in the region.
Another individual of historical significance was Estle Bullock (1615-1688), an English colonist and landowner in Virginia. Bullock was among the early settlers of the Virginia Colony and is credited with establishing one of the first successful tobacco plantations in the region.
In the 18th century, Estle Fairfax (1725-1799) was a prominent figure in the American Revolutionary War. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and was a close friend of George Washington. Fairfax's ancestral home, Greenway Court, played host to Washington on several occasions.
A lesser-known but significant individual was Estle Cornwallis (1782-1856), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars. Cornwallis distinguished himself in several battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, where he served under Lord Nelson.
Another notable bearer of the name was Estle Cartwright (1825-1912), an English inventor and clergyman. Cartwright is best known for his pioneering work in developing the power loom, which revolutionized the textile industry in the 19th century.
People
Estle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Estle 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
Estle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Estle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 118 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Estle 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 2,904,698 US residents.
Is Estle a common name?
We classify Estle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 756 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Estle most popular?
The single biggest year for Estle was 1920, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Estle is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Estle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 164 people with the name Estle, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,191 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 Estle 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 Estle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Estle leans strongly male. 139 people counted with this name were male (85.3%), compared with 24 female bearers (14.7%). 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 Estle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Estle is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Estle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Estle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.4% (140 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 Estle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Estle a male name?
Yes, 89.4% of people registered as Estle in the SSA data are male. 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 Estle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Estle 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 Estle 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 Estle?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Estle at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.