Hester
Hester was given to 5 girls in 2025, #15,766 among girls’ names; 14,764 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,390 Americans named Hester and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (16% of everyone recorded); the median is 74 years old and half are between 62 and 83.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Hester by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Hester mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Hester is “a female given name from Persian, of 17th century and later usage.”
From the Latin form of Esther.
/ˈhɛstɚ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Hester?
#15,766 among girls’ names, 2025
Hester entered the girls’ rankings after 2015 and stood at #15,766 in 2025.
407 babies in 1918, the peak
Hester peaked in 1918, when 407 babies were given it (394 girls, #323 among girls’ names). The 5 births of 2025 are 1% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #15,766 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 5 | #16,074 | under 0.01 |
| 2019 | 7 | #12,952 | under 0.01 |
| 2010 | 5 | #17,993 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 5 | #18,334 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 5 | #17,076 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 5 | #15,932 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 5 | #14,992 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 6 | #12,378 | under 0.01 |
| 1994 | 7 | #10,976 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (123)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 13 | #6,766 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 8 | #9,640 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 10 | #8,084 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 10 | #7,630 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 8 | #8,675 | under 0.01 |
| 1987 | 18 | #4,532 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 13 | #5,540 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 14 | #5,156 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 11 | #6,034 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 14 | #4,963 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 25 | #3,362 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 25 | #3,375 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 16 | #4,585 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 29 | #2,955 | 0.02 |
| 1978 | 14 | #4,770 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 17 | #4,117 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 21 | #3,322 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 21 | #3,319 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 27 | #2,705 | 0.02 |
| 1973 | 29 | #2,527 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 19 | #3,316 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 30 | #2,505 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 32 | #2,369 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 25 | #2,664 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 29 | #2,266 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 27 | #2,341 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 27 | #2,318 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 19 | #2,864 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 42 | #1,814 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 46 | #1,692 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 39 | #1,836 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 47 | #1,646 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 47 | #1,645 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 59 | #1,399 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 58 | #1,399 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 61 | #1,362 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 64 | #1,301 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 80 | #1,114 | 0.04 |
| 1954 | 86 | #1,059 | 0.04 |
| 1953 | 92 | #1,001 | 0.05 |
| 1952 | 81 | #1,048 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 72 | #1,100 | 0.04 |
| 1950 | 101 | #885 | 0.06 |
| 1949 | 101 | #872 | 0.06 |
| 1948 | 91 | #910 | 0.05 |
| 1947 | 112 | #830 | 0.06 |
| 1946 | 87 | #893 | 0.06 |
| 1945 | 100 | #752 | 0.08 |
| 1944 | 123 | #669 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 132 | #661 | 0.09 |
| 1942 | 120 | #681 | 0.09 |
| 1941 | 117 | #656 | 0.10 |
| 1940 | 132 | #609 | 0.12 |
| 1939 | 117 | #624 | 0.11 |
| 1938 | 136 | #593 | 0.12 |
| 1937 | 120 | #617 | 0.11 |
| 1936 | 148 | #535 | 0.14 |
| 1935 | 134 | #552 | 0.13 |
| 1934 | 160 | #508 | 0.15 |
| 1933 | 157 | #509 | 0.16 |
| 1932 | 153 | #532 | 0.14 |
| 1931 | 184 | #472 | 0.17 |
| 1930 | 214 | #459 | 0.19 |
| 1929 | 220 | #445 | 0.20 |
| 1928 | 218 | #466 | 0.19 |
| 1927 | 262 | #428 | 0.22 |
| 1926 | 274 | #410 | 0.23 |
| 1925 | 325 | #378 | 0.27 |
| 1924 | 317 | #383 | 0.25 |
| 1923 | 382 | #335 | 0.32 |
| 1922 | 340 | #355 | 0.28 |
| 1921 | 337 | #362 | 0.27 |
| 1920 | 362 | #346 | 0.30 |
| 1919 | 360 | #335 | 0.32 |
| 1918 | 394 | #323 | 0.34 |
| 1917 | 358 | #329 | 0.33 |
| 1916 | 378 | #311 | 0.36 |
| 1915 | 359 | #310 | 0.36 |
| 1914 | 309 | #298 | 0.41 |
| 1913 | 275 | #284 | 0.44 |
| 1912 | 265 | #277 | 0.47 |
| 1911 | 201 | #272 | 0.48 |
| 1910 | 212 | #264 | 0.53 |
| 1909 | 179 | #269 | 0.52 |
| 1908 | 184 | #258 | 0.55 |
| 1907 | 159 | #276 | 0.50 |
| 1906 | 158 | #262 | 0.54 |
| 1905 | 160 | #260 | 0.55 |
| 1904 | 169 | #239 | 0.61 |
| 1903 | 147 | #250 | 0.56 |
| 1902 | 164 | #235 | 0.62 |
| 1901 | 160 | #230 | 0.67 |
| 1900 | 183 | #234 | 0.61 |
| 1899 | 148 | #225 | 0.64 |
| 1898 | 158 | #233 | 0.61 |
| 1897 | 140 | #237 | 0.60 |
| 1896 | 150 | #226 | 0.63 |
| 1895 | 164 | #212 | 0.70 |
| 1894 | 143 | #223 | 0.64 |
| 1893 | 155 | #204 | 0.73 |
| 1892 | 122 | #240 | 0.57 |
| 1891 | 102 | #239 | 0.55 |
| 1890 | 119 | #225 | 0.63 |
| 1889 | 109 | #221 | 0.61 |
| 1888 | 113 | #217 | 0.63 |
| 1887 | 89 | #222 | 0.61 |
| 1886 | 76 | #236 | 0.53 |
| 1885 | 85 | #213 | 0.64 |
| 1884 | 85 | #206 | 0.66 |
| 1883 | 72 | #206 | 0.64 |
| 1882 | 63 | #214 | 0.58 |
| 1881 | 55 | #202 | 0.60 |
| 1880 | 49 | #219 | 0.54 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Hester a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 14,764 Americans recorded as Hester, 96% are girls and 4% boys. In 2025 it went to 5 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Hester: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Hester, and how old are they?
2,390 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 16% of the 14,764 Americans ever recorded as Hester. The median Hester alive today is 74 years old; half are between 62 and 83.
The 2020 Census counted 2,970 people named Hester (2,817 women and girls, 153 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,193 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 726 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,060 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 358 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 176 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 25 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 17 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Hester born?
The states with the most babies named Hester are North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Kentucky and Virginia are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 682 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Kentucky | 655 | not ranked | 2.3× |
| Virginia | 630 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| South Carolina | 618 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Texas | 488 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Tennessee | 460 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| West Virginia | 435 | not ranked | 2.3× |
| Alabama | 388 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Mississippi | 369 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Louisiana | 359 | not ranked | 1.5× |
Where Hester is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Hester is most over-represented in South Carolina: since 1910 it was given 2.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Hester with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Hester
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Hester and names like it
- Compare Hester and DessieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sHester peaked in 1918.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Hester since 1910.
- Persian namesWiktionary’s origin for Hester: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Hester.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Hester alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with HMost given first.