Hester
A feminine given name derived from the name Esther, with origins in Old Persian meaning "star".
Name Census estimates that about 2,171 living Americans carry the first name Hester. It is a predominantly female name (96.4% of registrations). The average person named Hester today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hester births was 1918 (407 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hester. 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 Hester with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Hester is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 537 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Hester is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hesters were born before 1964.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 157,879 Americans
Peak year
1918
407 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1970 SSA rank
#5,020
Tracked since 1880
Census
Hester in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,961 people with the first name Hester, which placed it at #5,701 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
#5,701
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,961 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hester
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hester is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (33.6%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Hester 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 Hester at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.6% · 1,558
- Black or African American33.6% · 996
- Two or more races5.1% · 151
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 112
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 30
Gender
Gender distribution for Hester
Hester leans heavily female at 96.4% of total registrations, but 537 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hester as a male name
- Ranked #5,020 in 1970
- 5 male births in 1970
- Peak: 1916 (24 births)
Hester as a female name
- Ranked #16,067 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1918 (394 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hester leans strongly female. 2,817 people counted with this name were female (94.8%), compared with 153 male bearers (5.2%).
Popularity
Hester: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hester from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 3,249 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hester 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 Hester during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hesters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia recorded the most babies named Hester, while Hawaii, Nebraska, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 260 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hester
The name Hester is of English origin, derived from the Greek name Esther, which itself comes from the Persian word "star". It emerged in the Middle Ages as an English variant of the name Esther. The name Esther can be traced back to the Old Persian name 'Stra', meaning 'star'.
Hester gained popularity in England during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, as it was the name of the heroine in the biblical Book of Esther. This book tells the story of a Jewish woman named Esther who becomes the queen of Persia and saves her people from persecution.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hester is in the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, where it appears as the English translation of the Hebrew name Esther. The name was also used by notable Puritan families in England and later in the American colonies.
One famous bearer of the name Hester was Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel "The Scarlet Letter". Set in 17th-century Puritan New England, the story revolves around Hester's public shaming for committing adultery and the subsequent consequences she faces.
Another notable Hester was Hester Bateman (1709-1808), an English silversmith and businesswoman from London. She is considered one of the most important and influential silversmiths of the 18th century.
In the realm of literature, Hester Thrale (1741-1821) was an English diarist, author, and close friend of the famous lexicographer Samuel Johnson. Her diaries and letters provide valuable insights into the literary and social circles of 18th-century London.
Hester Stanhope (1776-1839) was an English aristocrat and traveler who spent much of her life in the Middle East. She became known as the "Queen of the Desert" for her unconventional and independent lifestyle.
Lastly, Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham (1720-1803), was a British noblewoman and the wife of William Pitt, the 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War.
People
Hester + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hester as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hester: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hester?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,171 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hester 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 157,879 US residents.
Is Hester a common name?
We classify Hester as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,759 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hester most popular?
The single biggest year for Hester was 1918, when 407 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hester is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hester in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,961 people with the name Hester, or 0.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,701 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 Hester 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 Hester?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hester leans strongly female. 2,817 people counted with this name were female (94.8%), compared with 153 male bearers (5.2%). 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 Hester?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hester is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (33.6%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Hester most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hester in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.6% (1,558 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 Hester in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hester a female name?
Yes, 96.4% of people registered as Hester 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 Hester still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hester 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 Hester 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 people are named Hester?
Want to know how many people have the name Hester? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.