Given name & surname
Nestor
“to return safely”
Nestor is a masculine given name, possibly from Ancient Greek. It is used in English and French.
Original Ancient GreekΝέστωρ
Meaning & origin
What it means
Nestor possibly goes back to a word meaning “to return safely.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
In French usage, Nestor developed from Νέστωρ.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1885. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nestor through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 10,430
- 10,430 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1991
- 300 babies
- 2025
- 113
- #1,535 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −10%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 113 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,535 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 10.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 300 in 1991. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (30). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 21,159 as a first name in 2020; 5,311 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nestor’s family of names
In Filipino usage, Nestor has a diminutive in Netoy. In French usage, Nestor developed from the Ancient Greek form Νέστωρ. Nestor has a related form in Nester.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nestor has relatives in 8 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Nestor comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 8
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Nestor
- Nestor MakhnoUkrainian anarchist revolutionary (1888–1934)
- Nestor the ChroniclerSaint and chronicler of Kievan Rus'1056–1114
- Nestory IrankundaAustralian association football player (born 2006)
- Eemil Nestor SetäläFinnish politician and linguist (1864–1935)
- Nestor LakobaAbkhazian politician (1893-1936)
- Nestor Omar PiccoliArgentine association football player and managerborn 1965
- Nestor SerranoAmerican actorborn 1955
- Nestor Khergianijudokaborn 1975
- Néstor CombinFrench footballerborn 1940
Characters named Nestor: Nestor (The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé), Nestor Burma (fictional character created by Léo Malet).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Nestor, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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