Hester

Hester: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “star”
Origin: Persian
Say it: HES-ter · 2 syllables
Used for: Girls (96% of all uses)

Used in English as a form of Esther, ultimately from Old Persian stara 'star'. Hester is the spelling found in English literary history, notably Hester Prynne.

English names Names meaning star Names meaning sky Classic names Vintage names Literary names

How popular is Hester?

20240 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Hester in 20240

Peak year1893

Total US babies since 188014,759

Hester was not given to enough US babies in 2024 to appear in the records.

Names like Hester

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Estherstar · Persian
Jasminejasmine flower · Persian
Jazminjasmine flower · Persian
Yasminjasmine flower · Persian
Jazminejasmine flower · Persian
Sorayathe Pleiades · Persian
Darianapossessing goodness · Persian
Roxannebright, dawn · Persian

Hester questions

What does the name Hester mean?

Hester means "star". It comes from Persian. Used in English as a form of Esther, ultimately from Old Persian stara 'star'. Hester is the spelling found in English literary history, notably Hester Prynne.

Is Hester a boy or girl name?

Hester is mainly a girl's name in US records (96% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Hester?

Hester was given to fewer than 5 babies of either sex in 2024; its peak year was 1893.

How do you pronounce Hester?

Hester is usually pronounced HES-ter.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.