Hester is the Latin form of Esther, a name of uncertain etymology though it could be related to a Persian word meaning “star”; it’s also possible that the name could be related to Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love, fertility, and war, though the meaning is unknown. Hester is also a surname though it originates from two different sources, the first being from Middle Low German hester meaning “beech”, likely a locational name for someone who lived near some beech trees; or it could be an anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hOistir meaning “descendant of Oistir”, the latter a name of unknown meaning.
Nicknames: Hettie
Origin: Persian
Variants:
- Esther (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Hebrew)
- Ester (Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish)