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 [ 2 syll. es-(t)her, est-h-er ] The girl name Esther is pronounced as EHSTer KEY. Esther is used chiefly 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). Esther has 22 variant forms that are used in both English and other languages. Variant forms of Esther used in English include Essi, Essy, Ester (used in Czech, Finnish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish too), Etti (used in Estonian too), Hester (used in Dutch too), and Hesther. Other English variants include the pet forms Ess, Essa, Essie, Esta, Ettie, Etty, Hettie, and Hetty. Foreign variant forms of Esther include Eister (Irish), Eistir (Irish), Estera (Polish, Romanian, and Slavic), Estercita (Spanish), Esteri (Finnish), Eszter (Hungarian), and Yesfir (Russian). Another foreign variant is the pet form Estee (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 2008, its usage was only 0.060% and its ranking #274, but it 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. Baby names that sound like Esther include Ester (Czech, English, Finnish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish), Eszter (Hungarian), Estera (Polish, Romanian, and Slavic), and Esteri (Finnish). Details of famous persons named Esther: KEY: Pronunciation for Esther: EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; T as in "tea (T.IY)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)"   |
