Girls' name · since 1880
Hester
14,227 babies named Hester in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1918. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
- #1,328 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #14,943 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 14,227
- born since 1880
- 1910s
- peak decade
Yes -- Hester is the #14943 most popular girls' name in the U.S. today, with 14,227 recorded since 1880.
Hester has 14,227 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #14943 as of the latest data, more common than 14% of girls, busiest in the 1910s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.
- #1,328 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #14,943 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 14,227 born since 1880
- 1910s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Hester ranks #1,328 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #14,943 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 14,227 born since 1880, peaking in the 1910s.
- #1,328 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #14,943 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 14,227
- born since 1880
- 1910s
- peak decade
Hester's 14,227 recorded births place it above 98.16% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
30 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by North Carolina.
How Hester compares
14,227 Top 8% higher than 92% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Hester's all-time total is 38x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Hester | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 14,227 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 394 | 21 | 19,840 |
Hester's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Divide Hester's SSA record in two at 1941 and the more recent half accounts for 18% of all births, the earlier half the remaining 82%, consistent with a name more common in the past than in recent years. Its calmest year was 1998, with only 5 births recorded -- set against the 1918 peak of 394, that's the full swing in one name's fortunes.
Hester popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025
- Peak year (1918)
- 394
- Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
Hester popularity over time - boys
537 total births recorded since 1893 (Hester as boys' name)
Hester by decade
1910s is the heaviest window (3,111 births, 22% of the file).
1910s was Hester's strongest decade.
3,111 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 22% of all-time use.
Hester births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1880s 796
1880s
796 births
- 1890s
1890s
1,401 births
- 1900s
1900s
1,663 births
- 1910s
1910s
3,111 births
- 1920s
1920s
3,037 births
- 1930s
1930s
1,523 births
- 1940s 1,115
1940s
1,115 births
- 1950s 754
1950s
754 births
- 1960s 348
1960s
348 births
- 1970s 239
1970s
239 births
- 1980s 154
1980s
154 births
- 1990s 49
1990s
49 births
- 2000s 15
2000s
15 births
- 2010s 12
2010s
12 births
- 2020s 10
2020s
10 births
What this shows Peak: 1910s at 3,111 births (22% of all-time use).
How Hester compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Hester's total volume
Hester by state
Where Hester concentrates geographically, total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | North Carolina | | 676 | 4.8% |
| #2 | Kentucky | | 649 | 4.6% |
| #3 | Virginia | | 630 | 4.4% |
| #4 | South Carolina | | 618 | 4.3% |
| #5 | Texas | | 488 | 3.4% |
| #6 | Tennessee | | 460 | 3.2% |
| #7 | West Virginia | | 435 | 3.1% |
| #8 | Alabama | | 388 | 2.7% |
676 of 14,227 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 30 reporting states.
Hester appears in 30 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Hester? ▼
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When was Hester most popular? ▼
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What to do with Hester's data
- Hester's decade-level peak was the 1910s (3,111 total births); usage has since declined to 10 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- North Carolina records the most Hesters (676 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. North Carolina names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Hester
Nearby Names Like Hester
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Hester
Compare Hester side by side: Hester vs Hessie Hester vs Hesper Hester vs Hestia
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Hester
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Hester: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1918)
Similar record span (~145 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Hester draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.