Hadassah
Meaning
myrtle tree; biblical name of Queen Esther
The story
Hadassah is Hebrew for myrtle tree, and in the Old Testament it is the Hebrew name of Queen Esther herself, the name she carried before the throne. American families barely touched it for a century, a couple dozen a decade at most, until the 2000s: about 1,600 girls that decade, about 3,800 in the 2010s, and about 2,900 so far this decade. The surge is not only American: Brazil's census counts about 1,500 residents with a median age of four, a name arriving in two hemispheres at once. For families who want the full formal name behind Esther's story, with Haddie waiting as the soft short form, Hadassah delivers the whole megillah, literally: the scroll of Esther is read aloud in her honor every Purim.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Hadassah peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,514 people · the #6,218 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 142,857 · median age 4
Among people named Hadassah living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 699 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Hadassah
Most people given the name Hadassah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Hadassah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Hadassah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Hadassah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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