Name of the Week: Esther

 

  

Origin:

Esther is a Biblical name made famous by a prominent female figure whose story is told in eponymous Book of Esther. According to her story, the King of Persia, Ahasuerus, had deposed his queen Vashti because she refused, during a festival, to parade herself in front of his male guests when he commanded (something that would have been very shaming for her). In search of a new wife, many beautiful maidens were then brought before the king in order that he might choose between them. He selected Hadassah as by far the most lovely, and she became queen. Hadassah was an orphaned Jewish girl who lived under the protection of her cousin Mordecai. When she became a candidate to be the king's wife, she was advised by Mordecai to keep her Jewish identity a secret, and so adopted the Persian name of Esther.  To cut a much longer story short, when Mordecai hears of a plot by the grand vizier Haman to kill all the Jews in Persia, Esther is compelled to reveal her Jewish heritage to the king, risking her life, but manages to save the day when her husband listens to her pleas and the Jewish people are saved. This event is commemorated in the Jewish festival of Purim.  The etymology of Esther is disputed and uncertain, but it has, for centuries, been regarded as deriving from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₂stḗr- "star."  Esther has also been linked to the Hebrew word sether meaning "a covering, hiding place, secrecy"* but this is most likely a meaning attributed to her thanks to her identity being "hidden" in the story.*  Her Hebrew name Hadassah, like Esther, has also been linked to the Hebrew verb lehastir "to hide." A more convincing theory for Hadassah, however, is that it means "myrtle" (from the Hebrew word hadas "myrtle tree"*) and one theory suggests that Esther derives from the Median word astra "myrtle." Many scholars now argue, however, that Esther's name derives from that of the great Akkadian goddess Ishtar.  Ishtar was the Akkadian goddess of love, beauty, fertility, war, combat and political power and was equated with the Sumerian goddess Inanna. Her symbols were the lion and an eight-pointed star which represented (the planet) Venus (so the idea that Esther means star should not be immediately dismissed). She became the most powerful and highest goddess of the Assyrian pantheon and was widely venerated across Ancient Mesopotamia. This girl was certainly not to be messed with, as Bettany Hughes illustrates in her documentary Venus Uncovered: It is often pointed out how similar the names Esther and Mordecai are to Ishtar and Marduk - a Mesopotamian god who was the patron deity of the city of Babylon. Mordecai is regarded as a Hebraized form of Marduka, an Akkadian name meaning "man (servent/devotee) of Marduk." Theophoric names were incredibly common in Ancient Mesopotamia so it is highly likely that diasporic Jews would adopt one of these names. The Book of Daniel contains similar accounts of Jews living in exile in Babylonia being assigned theophoric Semitic names. Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar ("Ba'al protect the king"), Hananiah became Shadrach ("command of Aku"), Mishael is Meshach ("who is what Aku is?") and Azariah was changed to Abednego ("servant of Nebo"). There are those that have gone even further and argue that Esther and Mordecai are Ishtar and Marduk***** — that essentially the Book of Esther is adapted from Mesopotamian mythology. Haman is linked to the god Humman and Vashti to the goddess Mashti.  Most Biblical and Jewish scholars alike doubt the Book of Esther's historical veracity. As Hebrew Bible Professor Sidnie White Crawford points out: "The message of the Book of Esther, a work of historical fiction written in the diaspora in the late Persian-early Hellenistic period (fourth century b.c.e.), gives encouragement to the exiled Jews that they, although powerless in the Persian Empire, can, by their resourcefulness and talents, not only survive but prosper, as does Esther."* Similarly, the Jewish Encyclopedia says: "In view of all the evidence the authority of the Book of Esther as a historical record must be definitely rejected.[...] The object of Esther is undoubtedly to give an explanation of and to exalt the Feast of Purim, of whose real origin little or nothing is known."* So, if Esther's story is allegorical, could the names used not have been adapted from earlier Mesopotamian myths with similar themes? Whether Esther represents a common theophoric name related to Ishtar that was in use, or is actually an adaptation of the goddess's name itself, the evidence for a link between Esther and Ishtar is very compelling.  The meaning of the name Ishtar itself is unclear. Being such a truly ancient name, it's origins are lost to us through the mists of time. However, theories abound, from a connection to the Germanic Spring goddess Eostre or that she shares the same origin as the ancient Semitic god Attar who, like Ishtar, was associated with war and storms and was connected to fertility as the bringer of rain.  Intriguingly (and, for me, this is the most compelling connection) Ishtar was associated closely with the planet Venus. Venus was known to ancient civilizations both as the "morning star" and as the "evening star" and this may explain Ishtar's dual aspect as the goddess of both fertility and war.  Similarly, Attar served the same function. As Paul Collins states in The Sumerian Goddess Inanna (3400-2200 BC): "The name of the goddess Eshtar (later Ishtar) occurs as elements in both Presargonic and Sargonic personal names. It has been suggested that Eshtar derives from a form of 'Attar, a male deity known from Ugaritic and South Arabian inscriptions [...] The corresponding female forms are 'Attart/'Ashtart. The two names may have designated the planet Venus under its aspect of a male morning star (' Attar) and a female evening star (' Attart). This would apparently account for the dual personality of Ishtar as a goddess of love (female) and of war (male). In Mesopotamia the masculine form took over the functions of the female and a goddess developed contrary to its grammatical gender; perhaps under influence from Sumerian Inanna who may have possessed similar attributes." [p110-111].  So Ishtar's (and therefore Esther's) etymology may be tied to Venus as the morning and evening star, of which the Proto-Indo-European word *h₂stḗr- "star" may also be linked.*

Usage:

In Biblical Greek Esther became Ἐσθήρ (Esthḗr) and Hestera in Biblical Latin. From the latter came the variant Hester and both Esther and Hester came into use as a given name in the 16th century in Britain and steadily began to rise.  Smith Bannister's popularity rankings from 1538 to 1700 has Esther first ranking in the top 50 in England from 1610, reaching #25 by 1690-1700: 1610-9: #39; 1620-9: #41; 1630-9: #35; 1640-9: #37; 1650-9: #35; 1660-9: #47; 1670-9: #29; 1680-9: #34; 1690-1700: #25. However, Esther was popular first in the rural parts of the North of England, where Biblical names, particularly Old Testament names, took hold in the mid-16th century, earlier than in the rest of the country. Redmonds makes the comparison between the commercial centre of Leeds and the more rural woollen-trade-led Halifax, just 15 miles apart in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in his compilation of 300 male and 300 female baptisms from the Halifax and Leeds registers for 1590-92. The number of high ranking Old Testament in Halifax is remarkable, especially when compared to their lower ranks in Leeds.  Esther itself ranked at #7 in Redmonds chart for Halifax 1590-91 (11 baptisms), while it was joint 22nd place (1 baptism) in Leeds and not present at all on Smith-Bannister's top 50 table for 1590-99 across the whole of England.  Something that muddies the waters however is the use of the name Easter — used as given name for both boys and girls since the Middle Ages, usually for children born during the festival of Easter — which from the 16th century, became continually mixed up with Esther. [Smith-Bannister has Easter ranking separately at #41 for girls in both 1670-9 and 1690-1700.] So some of the early instances of Esther may have been bolstered by Easter's previous use.  Esther's star, however, continued to rise. It ranks at #27 in Leslie Dunkling's top 50 for England and Wales in 1700 and #25 in 1800.  It remained in the top 50 for most of the 19th century, gradually declining as the century progressed. It only left the top 100 after 1914.  click to enlarge Data from the 1881 UK census (see image, right) demonstrates that Esther remained common in the North of England, but, when population size is taken into account and filtered per 100,000 people, its clear that it was popular in more rural areas, such as Carmarthenshire in Wales, the Isle of Man or Caithness in the Highlands of Scotland.    Birth rankings in England and Wales:   Esther Hester  1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900:  1904:  1914:  1924:  #27 #32 #38 #45 #55 #59 #76 #83 -- #74 #96 #122 #151 #181 #206 -- -- -- With the exception of 2002, Esther has ranked in the top 200 of England and Wales since 1996. From 2003-2006 it saw a modest rise and has ranked consistently around the #150 mark since 2010.  In 2016, Esther ranked #146 (375 births) in England and Wales. Regionally, however, Esther ranked #82 in London, #113 in the North East and #141 in the East. In Scotland, Esther is less popular, ranking #327 (11 births) in 2017.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Esther Inglis (1571–1624) was a skilled artisan and miniaturist. * Esther Vanhomrigh (1688–1723), inspiration for Vanessa in in Jonathan Swift's poem Cadenus and Vanessa (1713). * Esther Hobart Morris (1814 –1902), the first woman justice of the peace in the United States. * Esther Boise Van Deman (1862–1937), leading American archaeologist. * Esther Roper (1868 –1938), British suffragist and social justice campaigner. * Esther Pohl Lovejoy (1869–1967), American physician and public health pioneer. * Esther Forbes (1891 –1967), American novelist, historian and children's writer who received the Pulitzer Prize and the Newbery Medal. * Esther Cleveland (1893–1980) daughter of Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States. * Esther McGowin Blake (1897–1979), the first woman in the United States Air Force. * Esther Brann (1899–1998), American children’s author and illustrator. Contemporary: * Dame Esther Rantzn DBE (born 1940), British journalist and television presenter. * Esther Goris (born 1963), Argentine actress. * Esther Hall (born 1970), British actress. * Esther Hart (born 1970), Dutch singer. * Esther Cañadas (born 1977), Spanish model and actress. * Esther Baxter (born 1984), American model and actress. * Esther "Esti" Ginzburg (born1990), Israeli fashion model. Literature and Other Media: * Esther Summerson, character in Charles Dickens' Bleak House. * Esther Greenwood, main character in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. * Esther Smith, character in movie Meet Me in St. Louis portrayed by Judy Garland. * Esther Blodgett, character in movie A Star is Born portrayed by Judy Garland. * Esther Litt Edelstein, character on "Suits"

Variants:

Hester; Ester (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Czech, Scandinavian), Estera (Polish, Slovak, Lithuanian), Esteri (Finnish), Eszter (Hungarian), Esfir (Russian)

Pronunciation:

ES-tə  [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Essie, Ettie, Esti, Hettie

Sibling Names:

Martha     Georgina     Miriam     Susanna     Margot      Alexandra  Charles     Andrew     Robert     Hugo     Theodore     Nicholas

Name Lists:

Popular Biblical Names   Gorgeously Georgian   Victorian Darlings   Vintage Names   Dickensian Names   Bronte Names   Rateable 'r' endings   Names of Roses

 

If you like Esther you may also like:   Rebecca, Eleanor, Iris, Philippa, Florence, Vivian, Vanessa, Emmeline, Cora, Abigail

Thanks to Jenny for requesting this name.