Esther - name meaning, origin

The girl's name Esther \e-

is pronounced ESS-ter. It is of Persian origin, and its meaning is "myrtle leaf". Also possibly (Persian) "star". Biblical: a young Hebrew woman named Hadassah who became the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, and risked her life to save her people. Jews celebrate the festival of Purim in memory of her. The name may also be a Hebrew form of the name of the Persian goddess of love, Ishtar. Ester is a Spanish form. Swimming actress Esther Williams; cosmetics pioneer Estée Lauder.

Esther has 14 variant forms: Essie, Essy, Esta, Estee, Ester, Estera, Ettey, Etti, Ettie, Etty, Hester, Hesther, Hetty and Hittie.

For more information, see also related names Easter, Estelle, Starla and Asta.

Baby names that sound like Esther are Astera, Astrea, Estrid, Astryr and Wister.

Esther is a very common first name for women (#132 out of 4276) and also a very common last name for both men and women (#43891 out of 88799). (1990 U.S. Census)

Displayed below is the baby name popularity trend for the girl name Esther. Compare Esther with its variant forms and related girl names.

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