Wikipedia's first sentence called it “feminine given name”. Today it says “female given name known from the jewish queen esther”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Esther”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Esther Esther ( Hebrew : אֶסְתֵּר ) is a female given name known from the Jewish queen Esther , eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther . According to the Hebrew Bible , queen Esther was born with the name הֲדַסָּה Hadassah ("Myrtle"). Her name was changed to Esther to hide her identity upon becoming queen of Persia . The three letter root of Esther in Hebrew is s-t-r ( סתר ), "hide, conceal". The passive infinitive is ( לְהִסָּ֫תֶר ), "to be hidden". The name can be derived from the Old Persian stāra ( NPer. ستاره setāra , meaning " star ") although some scholars identify Esther with the name of the Babylonian goddess of love Ishtar , given its association with the planet Venus (in its role as the Morning Star and the Evening star ; see also the Star of Ishtar ). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon . The use of Ishtar as the original name of Esther is based on the idea that an old Babylonian myth has been adapted by Judeans in which the gods of Babylon (Marduk [Mordechai] and Ishtar [Esther] fight for the control of the King against the Elamite gods of Hammambam [Hamon] and a god who is transformed into Vashti.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1287704121.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Esther is a feminine given name . It may derive from the Old Persian stāra ( NPer. ستاره - setāra , meaning " star ") or - more likely - from the name of the Babylonian goddess of love, Ištar (cf. It was adopted as an English name in the 17th Century. The Biblical Queen Esther is associated with the Hebrew word ḥadaṣah ("myrtle"). The name was the sixth most popular name given to white baby girls born in New York City in 2006. It has remained a popular name in some Jewish communities there.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371247273.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Esther is a feminine given name . It may derive from the Old Persian stāra ( NPer. ستاره - setāra , meaning " star ") or - more likely - from the name of the Babylonian goddess of love, Ištar (cf. It was adopted as an English name in the 17th Century. The Biblical Queen Esther is associated with the Hebrew word ḥadaṣah ("myrtle"). The name was the sixth most popular name that white mothers gave to baby girls born in New York City in 2006. It has remained a popular name in some Jewish communities.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664733735.
The opening as it stood in 2020 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Esther ( ) is a female given name known from the Jewish queen Esther , eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther .According to the Hebrew Bible , queen Esther was born with the name Hadassah ("Myrtle").Her name was changed to Esther to hide her identity upon becoming queen of Persia .The three letter root of Esther in Hebrew is s-t-r ( ), "hide, conceal".The passive infinitive is ( ), "to be hidden" .The name can be derived from the Old Persian stāra ( NPer. ستاره setāra , meaning " star ") although some scholars identify Esther with the name of the Babylonian goddess of love Ishtar .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964129065.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Name of Jewish queen Esther Esther ( ) is a female given name known from the Jewish queen Esther , eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther . According to the Hebrew Bible , queen Esther was born with the name הֲדַסָּה Hadassah ("Myrtle"). Her name was changed to Esther to hide her identity upon becoming queen of Persia . The three letter root of Esther in Hebrew is s-t-r ( סתר ), "hide, conceal".The passive infinitive is ( לְהִסָּ֫תֶר ), "to be hidden".The name can be derived from the Old Persian stāra ( NPer. ستاره setāra , meaning " star ") although some scholars identify Esther with the name of the Babylonian goddess of love Ishtar , given its association with the planet Venus (in its role as the Morning Star and the Evening star ; see also the Star of Ishtar ).The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon .The use of Ishtar as the original name of Esther is based on the idea that an old Babylonian myth has been adapted by Judeans in which the gods of Babylon (Marduk [Mordechai] and Ishtar [Esther] fight for the control of the King against the Elamite gods of Hammambam [Hamon] and a god who is transformed into Vashti.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1165006887.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “feminine given name”. Today it says “female given name known from the jewish queen esther”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Esther”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
feminine given name
Now
female given name known from the jewish queen esther
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 2,722 characters shorter.
Esther
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
