Hester is both a female given name and a surname. As a given name Hester is a variant of Esther. In Ireland, particularly County Mayo, the surname Hester is found as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Ó hOistir descendant of Oistir, who was likely an early 13th century immigrant from Tuscany.
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Given name
Hester Adrian, Baroness Adrian (1899–1966), British mental health worker
Hester Bateman (bap. 1708–1794), English silversmith
Hester A. Benedict (1838–1921), American poet and writer
Hester Biddle (c. 1629–97), English Quaker writer
Hester "Hetty" Burr (c. 1796–1862), American abolitionist
Hester Chapone (1727–1801), British author
Hester A. Davis (1930–2014), American archaeologist
Hester Dowden (1868–1949), Irish spiritualist medium
Hester Dunn (born 1940), Northern Irish former loyalist activist and writer
Hester Maria Elphinstone, Viscountess Keith (1764–1857), British literary correspondent and intellectual
Hester Goodsell (born 1984), British rower
Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple (c. 1690–1752), English noblewoman
Hester Jane Haskins (fl. 1860–75), American madam, procuress, and underworld figure
Hester Kaplan, American author
Hester Maclean (1859–1932), New Zealand nurse, editor and writer
Maria Hester Park (1760–1813), British composer, pianist, and singer
Hester Parnall (1868–1939), English brewer and businesswoman
Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham (1720–1803), wife of William Pitt (the Elder), 1st Earl of Chatham, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768
Lady Hester Pulter (1605–1678), British writer
Catherine Hester Ralfe (c. 1831–1912), New Zealand dressmaker, teacher, storekeeper, housekeeper and diarist
Hester Dorsey Richardson (1862–1933), American author
Hester Santlow (c. 1690–1773), British dancer and actress
Hester Shaw (midwife) (c. 1580 – 1660), English midwife and pamphleteer
Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839), British socialite, adventurer and traveler
Hester Thrale (1741–1821), British diarist, author, and patron of the arts
Hester van Eeghen (1958–2021), Dutch designer
Hester Veltman-Kamp (born 1973), Dutch politician
Hester Wagstaff (1892–1953), English illustrator, author and jeweller
Surname
Bart Hester (born 1977), American politician
Benny Hester (born 1948), American music artist and songwriter
Betty Hester (1923–1998), American correspondent
Carolyn Hester (born 1937), American folk singer and songwriter
Dave Hester, star of A&E TV's Storage Wars
Devin Hester (born 1982), American football player
Drew Hester (born 1969), American percussionist and record producer
Eric Hester (born 1974), American composer
Frank Hester (born 1966), British businessman
Hugh B. Hester (1895–1983), American army officer
Jack W. Hester (1929–1999), American politician
Jacob Hester (born 1985), American football player
James McNaughton Hester (1924–2014), American educator
Jessie Hester (born 1963), American football player
Joan Hester (1932–2019), American politician
John Hester (born 1983), American baseball player
Joy Hester (1920–1960), Australian artist
Katie Fry Hester (born 1974), American politician from Maryland
Fictional characters
Hester Argyle, a character in Agatha Christie's novel Ordeal by Innocence
Hester Latterly, main character of Anne Perry's Monk detective series
Hester Prynne, main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
The Character and Death of Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers, a 1794 Methodist tract
Hester Shaw, a character from Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet
Hester Ulrich, a character from the 2015 American horror comedy television series, Scream Queens.
Hester Crane, mother of Frasier Crane of Cheers and Frasier television shows.
Hester, the daemon companion of Lee Scoresby in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.
Hester Sherwood, one of the four characters from the Australian 2002 play Wicked Sisters by Alma De Groen.
Hester, the daughter of the witch from Hansel and Gretel in School for Good and Evil