girl's name

Ester

  • Gender Girl
  • Syllables 2
  • Letters 5
  • Popularity Uncommon
  • Births on record 18,303

Ester is a girl's name with 2 syllables. In 2025 it was given to 134 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

  • Peaked in 1925, when 307 babies were given the name.
  • After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
  • Today about 1 in 24,741 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • First appears in US birth records in 1881.
  • 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.

Ester over time

Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

2,595
'80 '90 '00 '10 '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 '70 '80 '90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Ester by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1880s 120
1890s 417
1900s 650
1910s 1,778
1920s 2,595
1930s 1,721
1940s 1,704
1950s 1,674
1960s 1,206
1970s 758
1980s 738
1990s 754
2000s 1,009
2010s 1,190
2020s (to 2025) 842

How popular is Ester?

In 2025, Ester was given to 134 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Where Ester is used

Ireland #1,037 3 in 2014
England & Wales #1,557 20 in 2025
United States #1,577 134 in 2025
Canada #2,215 10 in 2024
France #6,848 5 in 2025

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.

Names that peaked alongside Ester

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Ester also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ester over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Ester in other languages

The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.

Other forms
Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
Aster Eszter

Sibling names for Ester

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ester — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Ester

How popular is the name Ester?

In 2025, Ester was given to 134 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Is Ester a girl's or a boy's name?

Ester is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.

How many syllables are in Ester?

Ester has 2 syllables.

When was Ester most popular?

Ester peaked in 1925, when 307 babies were given the name. After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.

Is Ester a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ester currently ranks #1,557 in the United States. After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.