A female name. in the Old Testament book of this name, Esther is given as the Persian equivalent of the Hebrew Hadassah ‘myrtle’, though it is usually supposed to be from the Persian word for a star. In the Septuagint the name appears as ‘Εσσθήρ, whence Latin Esthera, Hestera. It is not found in use in England until the 17th C. Lyford 1655 gives both Hester and Esther, and the two forms were used indifferently. Racine’s play gave the name some vogue in France, but it was at no time common in either country, and it is a strange coincidence that Swift’s fate should have been involved with two women of this name, Esther Johnson and Esther Vanhomrigh. Hetty was formerly a pet-form of Hester.

From Persian satarah or Assyrian sitarch, through Greek άστήρ (aster), ‘a star,’ hence ‘any luminous body, e. g. a meteor’, which in the Septuagint becomes, as a name, ‘Εστήρ (Hester) and among the Romans Esthera or Hestera; ‘whence the... variations in English of Esther or Essie, and Hester or Hetty.’ But ‘not till the days of Racine’s sacred drama Esther, 1689, based on the life of the Jewish captive of King Ahasuerus was Esther much in vogue’; the play, performed by the young ladies of St. Cyr, popularised the name in France, where ‘it vied with the cumbrous splendours taken from the Scudery cycle of romance’; Swift’s two most famous women friends were named Esther, they were born about 1690, and he renamed them Stella and Vanessa.

The Scripture name, from אֶסְתֵר, Esther (name of a Jewish virgin called Hadassah); from the Pers. ﺳتارلا sitarah, star; also fortune, felicity. Simonis says, ‘Judæi, et qui eos sequuntur, stellam explicant ab Græc. αστηρ, et Pers. ﺳتارلا idque, ob egregiam formam quâ effulgebat;’ and Tregelles under Esther says, ‘This word is used by the Syrians to denote the planet Yenus, and we recognise the same Persic name in the Hebrew עַשְׁרֶת (Ashtoreth), Gr.’Ασταρτη, Astarte, pr. n. of a female idol worshipped by the Phoenicians, sometimes also by the Hebrews and the Philistines. The name of Venus, and also of Good Fortune, was suitable enough for her, as thus chosen by the king.’

Hebrew (feminine) - Star.

Es'-ter, secret, hidden. The book of Esther is so called, because it contains the history of Esther, a Jewish captive, who by her remarkable accomplishments gained the affection of king Ahasuerus, and, by marriage with him, was raised to the throne of Persia. See the Book.

Meaning: I will be hidden.

A Persian name, meaning: A star.