Vesta

Where Vesta comes from

From Middle English Vesta, from Latin Vesta, related to Ancient Greek ἑστία (hestía, “to dwell”) and Ἑστία (Hestía, “Hestia”), all from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-; see also Old High German and Old English wesan (“to be”), Gothic wisan, Sanskrit वसति (vasati, “abide dwell”). Vesta itself came to mean chaste, pure, or virgin, based from this goddess.
— Wiktionary's entry for Vesta
  • Latin
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1864
    Vesta Tilley born
    English music hall performer and male impersonator
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #367 among girls — 20 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1894
    Peak, #278
    100 babies named Vesta — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1949
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,289.
  5. 1957
    Vesta Williams born
    American R&B singer
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin in occasional use.
Namesakes
  • Vesta Williams · American R&B singer, 1957–2011
  • Vesta Tilley · English music hall performer and male impersonator, 1864–1952
  • Vesta M. Roy · American politician, 1925–2002
  • Vesta Victoria · English comedian, 1873–1951
  • Vesta · Finnish singer, born 1994

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.