Esther

Esther \es-(t)her, est-h-er\ is a female's name. It consists of 6 letters and 2 syllables.

The baby girl name Esther is pronounced in English and Dutch as EHSTahR or in French as ehSTEHR ¹.

¹ Pronunciation for Esther: EH as in "ebb (EH.B)" ; S as in "see (S.IY)" ; T as in "tee (T.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; R as in "race (R.EY.S)"

What is the origin of Esther?

Esther is used predominantly in the Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, and Spanish languages, and it is derived from Old Persian origins. Biblical name derived from the element 'stara' meaning star. The first name could also be from the Persian form of the Hebrew Hadassah. In the Bible, the name was borne by the beautiful Jewish orphan who replaced Vashti as the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (or Xerxes). She used her influence to save many Jews from extermination at the hands of the royal counsellor Haman. Her original Hebrew name was Hadassah. Due to the biblical association, the name Esther was consequently adopted by English Puritans during the Reformation. In literature, it has appeared in the Charles Dickens novel Bleak House (1852-1853) as the name of the fictional heroine Esther Summerson. It later gained a boost in popularity after the US president Grover Cleveland bestowed the name on his daughter Esther Cleveland (1893-1980). The name Esther is widely used; it has 33 variants that are used in both English and other languages.

used in English comprise baby name Es, Essey meaning of name, Essi definition, Essy name popularity, short names for Estar, meaning of Ester (used in Czech, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish too), Estée name variations, Esthur meaning and origin, Esti name popularity, name Eszti origin, Ettey meaning and origin, what does the name Etti mean, Hester name (used in Dutch too), baby name Hesther, and name Hittie origin. Other English variants comprise the pet forms what does the name Ess mean, Essa name variations, Essie meaning and origin, what does the name Esta mean, name Ettie origin, Etty meaning and origin, baby name Hettie, and Hetty meaning of name. Foreign variants of Esther comprise name Eister origin (Irish), name Eistir (Irish), Estelle meaning (French), name Estera meaning (Polish, Romanian, and Slavic), name Estercita origin (Spanish), name Esteri meaning (Finnish), Eszter meaning (Hungarian), short names for Yesfir (Russian), and Yester meaning (Armenian). Another foreign variant is the pet form Estee name variations (Hebrew). Esther is a classic favorite. At present it is still a popular baby name for girls, though not to the extent it was in the past. Its usage peaked in 1901 with 0.725% of baby girls being given the name Esther. Its ranking then was #33. The baby name has since experienced a steep fall in popularity, and is of occasional use in recent years. In 2010, its usage was only 0.063% and its ranking #267, was nonetheless the most frequently used among all girl names in its group. The name Esther has been predominantly given to girls, though it has also been used as a boy name in the past century. In 1911, girls named Esther outnumbered boys by 112 times.

The following famous people share the name Esther:

• Actress Esther Williams, born Esther Jane Williams, 8, 1921 - August 8, 1921, Inglewood, California
• Columnist Ann Landers, born Esther Pauline Friedman, 4 July 1918 - 22 June 2002, Sioux City, Iowa
• TV presenter Esther Rantzen, born Esther Louise Rantzen, 22 June 1940, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England.

List of baby names that sound like Esther:

nicknames for Ester (Czech, English, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish), Estrella meaning and origin (English and Spanish), Eszter name popularity (Hungarian), meaning of Estera (Polish, Romanian, and Slavic), name Esteri (Finnish), and short names for Esthur.

The baby name Esther fun facts:

The name Esther in reverse order is "Rehtse".

The numerological value of the name Esther is number 3, which means expression, verbalization, socialization, the arts, the joy of living.

How popular is Esther?

Esther is in the top names in USA.