Esther
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Persian. From Ancient Greek Ἐσθήρ (Esthḗr), from Biblical Hebrew אֶסְתֵּר (ʾestēr). Has been connected to Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎼 (a-s-t-r /star-/, “star”) (whence Middle Persian 𐭮𐭲𐭫 (stl /star/, “star”), 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 (stʾlk /stārag/, “star”), Persian ستاره (sitāra /setâre, “star”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (if so, a distant doublet of star); or else to Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar, “Ishtar”) (Hebrew עִשְׁתָּר (ʿištār)).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Esther (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Esther has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2019. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 13 |
| 1999 | 21 |
| 2000 | 21 |
| 2001 | 25 |
| 2002 | 27 |
| 2003 | 35 |
| 2004 | 32 |
| 2005 | 68 |
| 2006 | 79 |
| 2007 | 84 |
| 2008 | 77 |
| 2009 | 87 |
| 2010 | 102 |
| 2011 | 121 |
| 2012 | 130 |
| 2013 | 141 |
| 2014 | 141 |
| 2015 | 152 |
| 2016 | 157 |
| 2017 | 167 |
| 2018 | 174 |
| 2019 | 215 |
| 2020 | 165 |
| 2021 | 171 |
| 2022 | 174 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 456 |
| 2000 | 468 |
| 2001 | 491 |
| 2002 | 511 |
| 2003 | 539 |
| 2004 | 573 |
| 2005 | 636 |
| 2006 | 706 |
| 2007 | 799 |
| 2008 | 903 |
| 2009 | 989 |
| 2010 | 1,105 |
| 2011 | 1,223 |
| 2012 | 1,361 |
| 2013 | 1,508 |
| 2014 | 1,674 |
| 2015 | 1,831 |
| 2016 | 2,010 |
| 2017 | 2,195 |
| 2018 | 2,378 |
| 2019 | 2,626 |
| 2020 | 2,800 |
Esther in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Esther.Hi! My name is Esther.
- Esther har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Esther has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Esther i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Esther this afternoon.
- Esthers mamma är lärare.Esther's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Esthers mamma is Esther's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Esther
How do you pronounce Esther in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Esther in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Esther mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Persian. From Ancient Greek Ἐσθήρ (Esthḗr), from Biblical Hebrew אֶסְתֵּר (ʾestēr). Has been connected to Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎼 (a-s-t-r /star-/, “star”) (whence Middle Persian 𐭮𐭲𐭫 (stl /star/, “star”), 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 (stʾlk /stārag/, “star”), Persian ستاره (sitāra /setâre, “star”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (if so, a distant doublet of star); or else to Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar, “Ishtar”) (Hebrew עִשְׁתָּר (ʿištār)).
How popular is Esther in Sweden?
174 babies were named Esther in 2022. In 2020, 2,800 people in Sweden had Esther as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2019 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.