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Nesta

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Diminutive of Agnes

Nesta has been given to 207 babies in the U.S. since 1995. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2014, with 10 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 52% boys, 48% girls all-time.

Babies named Nesta, 2018

1 in 352,000

Nesta over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Nesta over time

In 2024, Nesta went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19282024

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Nesta: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Agnes

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nesta means

Nesta is a diminutive of Agnes.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Nesta is used in Welsh.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈnɛs.ta/ for Nesta.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Nesta → Agnes. The family’s meaning is “pure, chaste”, recorded in English with the source elements hagnós.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Agnes.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 108 boys were recorded with the name Nesta between 1995 and 2018. Its highest annual count was 10 in 2014; its best national rank was #7,953 in 2014.

In the United States, 99 girls were recorded with the name Nesta between 1928 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1937; its best national rank was #2,681 in 1937.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Nesta?

Nesta had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2018, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2018
1 in 352,000
10 of 3,516,853 births
Among boys only
1 in 182,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2018
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
243,771 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nesta sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2018 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 243,771 children born in 2018 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nesta. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nestas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nesta was born before 2010 — so the typical Nesta is around 15 today.

Median birth year
2010
About 15 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
53.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
108
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 53.7% of all recorded uses (58).

Is Nesta rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 2014 (10)
Years since peak
11
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
46.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#7,953
2014

Spellings of Nesta

Nesta is not the most common spelling — Nestor is, with 55.9% against Nesta's 0.58%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Nesta around the world

Where Nesta ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1998–2021
    #4,789
    in 2021
  • France
    1995–2025
    #1,172
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2018–2018
    #2,065
    in 2018

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Nesta by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,953
2014
Peak year
2014
10 that year
First recorded
1995
Last recorded
2018
All-time count
108
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,681
1937
Peak year
1937
11 that year
First recorded
1928
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
99
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Nesta

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NessNesiahNesterCostaNessiahAstaNesbitKostaNesanelNesbyNeshawnKristaVestaNesbittNeseanNeslyDestaEstaShastaNeshaunBautistaNestorChristaArgusta

Sibling names for Nesta

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Nesta

Top names of 2014, Nesta's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2014Boys' names starting with N