Meaning not yet researched.
Hester: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 5 in 2025. Its best rank was #202 in 1881.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #202 in 1881; #15,770 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Hester in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#15,770 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1881, at #202.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Hester: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 5 girls in 2025. Peak: #202 in 1881 · most girls in one year: 394 (1918).
In 2025, 5 US girls were named Hester, making it the 15,770th most common girls’ name of the year. Its best rank for girls was #202, reached in 1881. The most girls given the name in a single year was 394, in 1918. For comparison, it was unranked (under five girls) in 2015 and #886 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Hester in 123 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 49 babies. In all, 14,764 US babies have been given the name, 96% of them girls and 3.6% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1910s, with 3,249 babies named Hester.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 17 US girls were named Hester; the busiest of those years was 2019, with 7. In 2025 that was about 1 in 321,453 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
The open nickname list we use links it to Esther, Hessy and Hetty.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch and English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
No related spellings pass our data threshold.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0).
Hester is listed as a nickname for Esther.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #15,770 | — | — |
| 2023 | 5 | #16,080 | — | — |
| 2019 | 7 | #12,957 | — | — |
| 2010 | 5 | #18,002 | — | — |
| 2009 | 5 | #18,340 | — | — |
| 2004 | 5 | #17,083 | — | — |
| 2000 | 5 | #15,940 | — | — |
| 1998 | 5 | #14,999 | — | — |
| 1996 | 6 | #12,384 | — | — |
| 1994 | 7 | #10,982 | — | — |
| 1993 | 13 | #6,772 | — | — |
| 1991 | 8 | #9,647 | — | — |
| 1990 | 10 | #8,090 | — | — |
| 1989 | 10 | #7,636 | — | — |
| 1988 | 8 | #8,680 | — | — |
| 1987 | 18 | #4,535 | — | — |
| 1986 | 13 | #5,543 | — | — |
| 1985 | 14 | #5,158 | — | — |
| 1984 | 11 | #6,035 | — | — |
| 1983 | 14 | #4,964 | — | — |
| 1982 | 25 | #3,363 | — | — |
| 1981 | 25 | #3,375 | — | — |
| 1980 | 16 | #4,586 | — | — |
| 1979 | 29 | #2,955 | — | — |
| 1978 | 14 | #4,770 | — | — |
| 1977 | 17 | #4,118 | — | — |
| 1976 | 21 | #3,323 | — | — |
| 1975 | 21 | #3,319 | — | — |
| 1974 | 27 | #2,705 | — | — |
| 1973 | 29 | #2,527 | — | — |
| 1972 | 19 | #3,316 | — | — |
| 1971 | 30 | #2,505 | — | — |
| 1970 | 32 | #2,369 | 5 | #5,021 |
| 1969 | 25 | #2,664 | — | — |
| 1968 | 29 | #2,266 | — | — |
| 1967 | 27 | #2,341 | — | — |
| 1966 | 27 | #2,319 | — | — |
| 1965 | 19 | #2,865 | — | — |
| 1964 | 42 | #1,815 | — | — |
| 1963 | 46 | #1,693 | — | — |
| 1962 | 39 | #1,837 | — | — |
| 1961 | 47 | #1,647 | — | — |
| 1960 | 47 | #1,646 | — | — |
| 1959 | 59 | #1,400 | — | — |
| 1958 | 58 | #1,400 | — | — |
| 1957 | 61 | #1,363 | — | — |
| 1956 | 64 | #1,302 | — | — |
| 1955 | 80 | #1,115 | 6 | #3,672 |
| 1954 | 86 | #1,060 | 5 | #4,066 |
| 1953 | 92 | #1,002 | 6 | #3,590 |
| 1952 | 81 | #1,049 | — | — |
| 1951 | 72 | #1,101 | — | — |
| 1950 | 101 | #886 | 5 | #3,910 |
| 1949 | 101 | #873 | 11 | #2,395 |
| 1948 | 91 | #911 | — | — |
| 1947 | 112 | #831 | 6 | #3,516 |
| 1946 | 87 | #894 | 7 | #3,016 |
| 1945 | 100 | #752 | 7 | #2,855 |
| 1944 | 123 | #669 | 9 | #2,536 |
| 1943 | 132 | #661 | 8 | #2,829 |
| 1942 | 120 | #681 | — | — |
| 1941 | 117 | #656 | 8 | #2,753 |
| 1940 | 132 | #609 | 13 | #2,028 |
| 1939 | 117 | #624 | — | — |
| 1938 | 136 | #593 | 14 | #1,931 |
| 1937 | 120 | #617 | 7 | #3,027 |
| 1936 | 148 | #535 | 10 | #2,359 |
| 1935 | 134 | #552 | 5 | #3,895 |
| 1934 | 160 | #508 | 19 | #1,636 |
| 1933 | 157 | #509 | 13 | #2,036 |
| 1932 | 153 | #532 | 14 | #2,043 |
| 1931 | 184 | #472 | 14 | #2,040 |
| 1930 | 214 | #459 | 12 | #2,362 |
| 1929 | 220 | #445 | 15 | #2,044 |
| 1928 | 218 | #466 | 7 | #3,511 |
| 1927 | 262 | #428 | 10 | #2,794 |
| 1926 | 274 | #410 | 13 | #2,351 |
| 1925 | 325 | #378 | 21 | #1,709 |
| 1924 | 317 | #383 | 13 | #2,400 |
| 1923 | 382 | #335 | 16 | #2,064 |
| 1922 | 340 | #355 | 12 | #2,554 |
| 1921 | 337 | #362 | 18 | #1,939 |
| 1920 | 362 | #346 | 18 | #1,922 |
| 1919 | 360 | #335 | 19 | #1,777 |
| 1918 | 394 | #323 | 13 | #2,321 |
| 1917 | 358 | #329 | 12 | #2,346 |
| 1916 | 378 | #311 | 24 | #1,442 |
| 1915 | 359 | #310 | 21 | #1,528 |
| 1914 | 309 | #298 | 9 | #2,343 |
| 1913 | 275 | #284 | 16 | #1,346 |
| 1912 | 265 | #277 | 8 | #1,956 |
| 1911 | 201 | #272 | 7 | #1,458 |
| 1910 | 212 | #264 | 9 | #1,153 |
| 1909 | 179 | #269 | 5 | #1,566 |
| 1908 | 184 | #258 | 6 | #1,292 |
| 1907 | 159 | #276 | 5 | #1,431 |
| 1906 | 158 | #262 | — | — |
| 1905 | 160 | #260 | — | — |
| 1904 | 169 | #239 | 6 | #1,128 |
| 1903 | 147 | #250 | — | — |
| 1902 | 164 | #235 | — | — |
| 1901 | 160 | #230 | 6 | #995 |
| 1900 | 183 | #234 | 9 | #937 |
| 1899 | 148 | #225 | 5 | #1,119 |
| 1898 | 158 | #233 | 5 | #1,207 |
| 1897 | 140 | #237 | — | — |
| 1896 | 150 | #226 | — | — |
| 1895 | 164 | #212 | — | — |
| 1894 | 143 | #223 | — | — |
| 1893 | 155 | #204 | 5 | #1,110 |
| 1892 | 122 | #240 | — | — |
| 1891 | 102 | #239 | — | — |
| 1890 | 119 | #225 | — | — |
| 1889 | 109 | #221 | — | — |
| 1888 | 113 | #217 | — | — |
| 1887 | 89 | #222 | — | — |
| 1886 | 76 | #236 | — | — |
| 1885 | 85 | #213 | — | — |
| 1884 | 85 | #206 | — | — |
| 1883 | 72 | #206 | — | — |
| 1882 | 63 | #214 | — | — |
| 1881 | 55 | #202 | — | — |
| 1880 | 49 | #219 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).