How Many People Are Named Ester?
An estimated 8,275 people in the United States have the first name Ester. It is predominantly female (94.8%). The average bearer is 44 years old, and Ester peaked in popularity in 1925 with 307 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Ester as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Ester paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
8,275
About 1 in 41,420 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
94.8% confidence
Average Age
44
years old
Peak Year
1925
307 births
Total Registered
17,018
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Ester
Ester is predominantly female (94.8%), though 891 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Ester as a male name
Ranked #6,027 in 1985
6 male births in 1985
Peak: 1914 (31 births)
Ester as a female name
Ranked #1,508 in 2024
143 female births in 2024
Peak: 1925 (281 births)
Ester: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Ester span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 2,595 babies were registered. Ester has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Ester by Decade
How has Ester tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 120 | 5 | 115 | |
| 1890s | 417 | 30 | 387 | |
| 1900s | 650 | 28 | 622 | |
| 1910s | 1,778 | 205 | 1,573 | |
| 1920s | 2,595 | 222 | 2,373 | |
| 1930s | 1,721 | 144 | 1,577 | |
| 1940s | 1,703 | 122 | 1,581 | |
| 1950s | 1,674 | 90 | 1,584 | |
| 1960s | 1,205 | 22 | 1,183 | |
| 1970s | 757 | 12 | 745 | |
| 1980s | 738 | 11 | 727 | |
| 1990s | 754 | 0 | 754 | |
| 2000s | 1,009 | 0 | 1,009 | |
| 2010s | 1,190 | 0 | 1,190 | |
| 2020s | 707 | 0 | 707 | |
Ester by State
Birth registrations for Ester span all 35 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, New York. The lowest are in Wisconsin, Oregon, Minnesota. On average, about 309 Esters were registered per state.
Ester + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Ester as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Ester
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
Ester: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ester?
We estimate approximately 8,275 people named Ester are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 41,420 Americans share this first name.
Is Ester a common name?
Ester is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 17,018 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Ester most popular?
Ester reached peak popularity in 1925, when 307 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Ester is approximately 44 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Ester a female name?
Ester is predominantly female. 94.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Ester Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Ester Smith, Ester Johnson, Ester Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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