How popular is the baby name Esther in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Esther.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Esther


Posts that mention the name Esther

Popular baby names in New York City, 2023

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Last year, New York City welcomed 98,389 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma (for the seventh year in a row) and Liam (for the eighth year in a row), according to the New York City Health Department.

Here are NYC’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 382 baby girls
  2. Mia
  3. Sophia
  4. Olivia
  5. Isabella
  6. Amelia
  7. Leah (ranked 53rd for girls nationally in 2023)
  8. Chloe (26th)
  9. Luna
  10. Sofia (12th)

Boy names

  1. Liam, 743 baby boys
  2. Noah
  3. David (ranked 27th for boys nationally in 2023)
  4. Lucas
  5. Jacob (36th)
  6. Ethan (25th)
  7. Joseph (29th)
  8. Dylan (34th)
  9. Michael [tie] (16th)
  10. Muhammad [tie] (272nd)

In the girls’ top 10, Chloe and Sofia replaced Ava and Esther.

In the boys’ top 10, Dylan, Michael, and Muhammad replaced Aiden, Daniel, and Alexander.

Both Dylan and Muhammad — which was the #1 boy name in England and Wales last year — are new to NYC’s top 10. Michael, on the other hand, was a “favorite among New Yorkers from 1980 to 2006.”

The Health Department’s news release also mentioned dozens of other Big Apple baby names, including…

Girl namesBoy names
Esther (ranked 12th), Miriam (15th), Aurora (41st), Violet (45th), Rose (52nd), Eleanor (56th), Gemma (78th), Athena (79th), Savannah (85th), Iris (87th), Daisy (93rd), Sage (100th)Alexander (ranked 17th), Zion (62nd), Leonardo (65th), Milan (70th), Adonis (76th), Amari (78th)

Finally, here’s a link to New York City’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to check them out.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

Popular baby names in Denmark, 2023

Flag of Denmark
Flag of Denmark

Last year, the Nordic country of Denmark welcomed 57,469 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Frida and Carl.

Here are Denmark’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Frida, 425 baby girls
  2. Luna, 412
  3. Ella, 410
  4. Alma, 409
  5. Emma, 402
  6. Sofia, 397
  7. Olivia, 395
  8. Agnes, 392
  9. Ida, 391
  10. Karla, 381
  11. Ellie, 380
  12. Clara, 379
  13. Freja, 343
  14. Nora, 331
  15. Lily, 326
  16. Alberte, 316 (tie)
  17. Esther, 316 (tie)
  18. Asta, 296
  19. Ellen, 284
  20. Anna, 282
  21. Aya, 246
  22. Isabella, 228
  23. Lærke, 213 – the Danish word for “lark” (the type of bird)
  24. Astrid, 212
  25. Saga, 210
  26. Hannah, 209
  27. Mathilde, 207
  28. Josefine, 205
  29. Laura, 203
  30. Vilma, 200
  31. Emily, 197 (tie)
  32. Liva, 197 (tie)
  33. Maja, 196
  34. Vera, 187
  35. Marie, 181
  36. Leonora, 178 (tie)
  37. Mille, 178 (tie)
  38. Andrea, 173
  39. Solveig, 166
  40. Molly, 164
  41. Victoria, 163
  42. Merle, 149
  43. Lea, 148
  44. Liv, 146
  45. Eva, 140 (tie)
  46. Ingrid, 140 (tie)
  47. Elina, 137 (tie)
  48. Rosa, 137 (tie)
  49. Gry, 130
  50. Sofie, 125

Boy names

  1. Carl, 477 baby boys
  2. William, 458
  3. Oscar, 452
  4. Alfred, 449 (tie)
  5. Noah, 449 (tie)
  6. Aksel, 441
  7. Emil, 430
  8. Oliver, 423
  9. Malthe, 403
  10. Valdemar, 392
  11. August, 377
  12. Elliot, 370
  13. Theo, 351
  14. Arthur, 346
  15. Lucas, 335
  16. Elias, 324
  17. Lauge, 323
  18. Otto, 319
  19. Hugo, 309
  20. Felix, 285
  21. Magnus, 279
  22. Viggo, 270
  23. Victor, 269
  24. Theodor, 257
  25. Loui, 255
  26. Holger, 249
  27. Anker, 245 (tie)
  28. Liam, 245 (tie)
  29. Anton, 243
  30. Matheo, 230
  31. Konrad, 227
  32. Erik, 214
  33. Pelle, 202
  34. Luca, 198
  35. Asger, 197
  36. Ebbe, 195
  37. Nohr, 194 (tie)
  38. Vincent, 194 (tie)
  39. Kalle, 190
  40. Adam, 181
  41. Johan, 173
  42. Frederik, 165 (tie)
  43. Storm, 165 (tie)
  44. Albert, 159
  45. Walter, 156
  46. Alexander, 154
  47. Christian, 151
  48. Villads, 146
  49. Leo, 142
  50. Marius, 138

The top names of 2022, Ella and William, are now in third place and second place, respectively.

The word-name Storm has ranked inside the boys’ top 50 since 2010. (In the U.S., Storm is given to both boys and girls, but has never come close to top-50 status for either gender.)

Sources: Baby names – Statistics Denmark, Births – Statistics Denmark

Image: Adapted from Flag of Denmark (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Sweden, 2023

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden tricked us, you guys.

Last year, Statistics Sweden ominously announced that it would “stop producing name statistics.”

It neglected to mention that the country’s baby name data would continue coming out every year — that the names were simply going to be handled by a different government agency (the Swedish Tax Agency) going forward.

I wanted to be annoyed about this deception, but my annoyance evaporated after I learned that the Swedish Tax Agency had released all of the country’s 2023 baby name data — meaning that we could finally check out Sweden’s rare and unique names (yay!).

So, without further ado, let’s take a look…

Sweden welcomed 100,051 babies in 2023. What were the most popular names among these babies? Vera and Noah.

Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Vera, 608 baby girls
  2. Elsa, 603
  3. Alma, 597
  4. Selma, 538
  5. Alice, 512
  6. Signe, 494
  7. Ellie, 490
  8. Olivia, 488
  9. Astrid, 470
  10. Ella, 467
  11. Stella, 447
  12. Maja, 442
  13. Freja, 434
  14. Saga, 426
  15. Alva, 415
  16. Agnes, 392
  17. Ebba, 381
  18. Leah, 375
  19. Alba, 365
  20. Hedda, 362
  21. Iris, 344
  22. Wilma, 341
  23. Ines, 339
  24. Alicia, 335
  25. Mila, 332
  26. Luna, 304
  27. Lilly, 292
  28. Sigrid, 288
  29. Elvira, 286
  30. Leia, 280
  31. Juni, 274
  32. Julia, 258
  33. Hilma, 256
  34. Clara, 253
  35. Majken, 242 (tie)
  36. Molly, 242 (tie)
  37. Ellen, 241
  38. Ester, 238 (tie)
  39. Lykke, 238 (tie)
  40. Lily, 236
  41. Nora, 232
  42. Ingrid, 226
  43. Nova, 223
  44. Edith, 205
  45. Livia, 204
  46. Sally, 203
  47. Lea, 198
  48. Tyra, 194
  49. Liv, 193
  50. Esther, 192

Boy names

  1. Noah, 687 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 652
  3. William, 565
  4. Liam, 558
  5. Nils, 536
  6. Oliver, 517
  7. Elias, 516
  8. Adam, 507
  9. August, 506
  10. Sam, 504
  11. Alfred, 485
  12. Otto, 479
  13. Leo, 463
  14. Leon, 415
  15. Frans, 414
  16. Charlie, 388
  17. Olle, 372
  18. Theo, 366
  19. Harry, 362
  20. Arvid, 351
  21. Ludvig, 350
  22. Malte, 345
  23. Ebbe, 338 (tie)
  24. Lucas, 338 (tie)
  25. Tage, 330
  26. Elliot, 327
  27. Henry, 326
  28. Adrian, 322
  29. Gabriel, 319
  30. Elton, 318
  31. Ted, 317
  32. Walter, 314
  33. Vincent, 296
  34. Alexander, 294 (tie)
  35. Oscar, 294 (tie)
  36. Valter, 293
  37. Benjamin, 282
  38. Noel, 274 (tie)
  39. Theodor, 274 (tie)
  40. Jack, 268 (tie)
  41. Viggo, 268 (tie)
  42. Axel, 264
  43. Albin, 256
  44. Melker, 251
  45. Levi, 240
  46. Isak, 236
  47. Dante, 233
  48. Lukas, 230
  49. Matteo, 226
  50. Hjalmar, 225

The top names of 2022, Astrid and William, dropped to ninth place and third place, respectively.

The boys’ top 100 included Ture (53rd), Vidar (55th), Loke (71st), and Bill (97th).

The girls’ top 100 included Tuva (66th), Stina (75th), Lo (78th), and Eira (81st).

Farther down on the girls’ list I spotted Madicken, which was given to 15 babies last year. Swedish author Astrid Lindgren featured a fictional 7-year-old girl named Margareta “Madicken” Engström in several of her children’s books. (Lindgren had named the character after a childhood friend, Anne-Marie, whose nickname was Madicken.)

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a sampling of the more than 8,000 names that were bestowed just once in Sweden last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Älva, Bergþóra, Cyrine, Dahlina, Elfie, Frigga, Glittra, Holland, Iseline, Jinjin, Källa, Lavendel, Minélle, Neoliva, Ornina, Pommelinn, Qellie, Rauline, Sigunn, Thaïs, Undin, Virvla, Winta, Xanne, Yrja, ZtellaAsterix, Bornwell, Casbian, Delton, Ejnar, Frenne, Grimm, Hälge, Ingemund, Jingda, Kasjan, Lillebror, Mjalton, Nille, Öivind, Palomino, Qingfeng, Robiel, Skjómi, Toste, Uzeer, Villie, Williott, Xanto, Yosia, Zillas

Some definitions/associations for a few of the above:

  • Glittra means “to glitter” in Swedish.
  • Källa means “source” in Swedish. (Originally it referred to a source of water, such as a spring or a well.)
  • Lavendel means “lavender” in Swedish (and several other languages).
  • Lillebror means “little brother” in Swedish.
  • Mjalton refers to Mjältön, an island in Sweden.
  • Skjómi, an Old Norse word meaning “a flickering light,” was used metaphorically in Skaldic poetry to refer to a drawn sword.
  • Virvla means “to whirl” in Swedish. (The related noun virvel means “vortex.”)

Sources: Elsa och Noah populäraste namnen hos nyfödda – Skatteverket, Namn på nyfödda – Skatteverket, Population statistics – Statistics Sweden, Madicken (Mardie) – Astrid Lindgren, Wiktionary, skjómi – Lexicon Poeticum, skjómi – Old Norse Dictionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

Girl names that end with an R-sound

Girl names that end with an R-sound

In the U.S., most of the names given to baby girls end with a vowel sound. And many of the remaining names end with an N-sound.

So, what about girl names that end with other sounds?

Below is a selection of girl names that end with an R-sound, regardless of last letter. The names are ordered by current popularity.

Harper
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who played the harp. Here’s the popularity graph for Harper.

Eleanor
From the Occitan name Alienor, which may mean “the other Aenor.” Here’s the popularity graph for Eleanor.

Claire
A French form of the name Clara. Here’s the popularity graph for Claire.

Skylar
Based on the Dutch surname Schuyler, meaning “scholar.” Here’s the popularity graph for Skylar.

Piper
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who played the pipe (a type of wind instrument). Here’s the popularity graph for Piper.

Juniper
From the type of tree. Here’s the popularity graph for Juniper.

Parker
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person employed as the keeper of a hunting park. Here’s the popularity graph for Parker.

Esther
A name from the Hebrew Bible that may be based on the Persian word for “star.” Here’s the popularity graph for Esther.

River
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for River.

Summer
From the season. Here’s the popularity graph for Summer.

Ember
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Ember.

Saylor
Based on the English word sailor — though it also happens to be an English surname meaning “dancer.” Here’s the popularity graph for Saylor.

Taylor
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who worked as a tailor. Here’s the popularity graph for Taylor.

Sawyer
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who sawed wood. Here’s the popularity graph for Sawyer.

Blair
From the Scottish surname, which is derived from the place name Blair, meaning “field” (often “battlefield”). Here’s the popularity graph for Blair.

Palmer
From the English surname, which originally referred to a pilgrim. Here’s the popularity graph for Palmer.

Winter
From the season. Here’s the popularity graph for Winter.

Jennifer
A Cornish form of the name Guinevere. Here’s the popularity graph for Jennifer.

Briar
From the English vocabulary word that refers to a thorny plant. Here’s the popularity graph for Briar.

Amber
From the type of gemstone (which is actually fossilized tree resin). Here’s the popularity graph for Amber.

Carter
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who transported goods. Here’s the popularity graph for Carter.

Dior
From the French fashion house Dior, named for founder Christian Dior. Here’s the popularity graph for Dior.

Clover
From the type of small plant. Here’s the popularity graph for Clover.

Treasure
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Treasure.

Noor
An Arabic word meaning “light.” Here’s the popularity graph for Noor.

Kimber
A nickname for Kimberly. Here’s the popularity graph for Kimber.

Hunter
From the English and Scottish surname, which originally referred to a huntsman. Here’s the popularity graph for Hunter.

Baylor
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who delivered goods. Here’s the popularity graph for Baylor.

Denver
From the English surname, which is derived from the place name Denver, meaning “Dane’s ford.” Here’s the popularity graph for Denver.

Sapphire
From the type of gemstone (which is typically blue). Here’s the popularity graph for Sapphire.

Guinevere
Based on the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, which may mean “white phantom.” Here’s the popularity graph for Guinevere.

Chandler
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who made or sold candles. Here’s the popularity graph for Chandler.

Spencer
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who “dispensed provisions or money.” Here’s the popularity graph for Spencer.

Miller
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who owned or operated a mill. Here’s the popularity graph for Miller.

Ryder
From the English and Irish surname, which originally referred to a horseman (though it also has several other possible derivations). Here’s the popularity graph for Ryder.

Lavender
From the type of plant that produces fragrant flowers. Here’s the popularity graph for Lavender.

Heather
From the type of flowering plant. Here’s the popularity graph for Heather.

Pepper
From the type of spice. Here’s the popularity graph for Pepper.

Jupiter
From the planet (or the Roman god). Here’s the popularity graph for Jupiter.

Adore
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Adore.

Ever
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Ever.

Amor
A Spanish and Portuguese word meaning “love.” Here’s the popularity graph for Amor.

Honor
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Honor.

Flor
A Spanish and Portuguese word meaning “flower.” Here’s the popularity graph for Flor.

Baker
From the English surname, which originally referred either to a person employed as a baker or to “the owner of a communal oven used by the whole village.” Here’s the popularity graph for Baker.

Desire
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Desire.

Star
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Star.

Jadore
From the French phrase j’adore, meaning “I adore” or “I love.” Here’s the popularity graph for Jadore.

Greer
From the Scottish surname, which is derived from the name Gregor. Here’s the popularity graph for Greer.

Cedar
From the type of tree. Here’s the popularity graph for Cedar.


Less-common girl names that end with an R-sound include Harbor, Tamar, Vesper, Pilar, Hajar, Azure, and Larimar.

Which of the above do you like most? What others can you think of?

P.S. Here are lists of girl names that end with D-, K-, L-, M-, S-, T-, V-, and Z-sounds.

Sources:

  • SSA
  • Behind the Name
  • Hanks, Patrick, Kate Hardcastle and Flavia Hodges. (Eds.) A Dictionary of First Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.