Kester
A surname that is often a shortened form of Christopher, though in some cases it may also have local or other origins.
The #4,870 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 42,662 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kester is best known as a shortened form of Christopher, with the ending clipped away in familiar speech. The name Christopher itself comes from Greek elements meaning roughly "Christ-bearer," so Kester ultimately points back to a Christian given name. In some older surname collections, Kester is also treated as a local or nickname-based form, so the surname may not have only one source.
History
The name appears in historical records in Britain, and later also among German-language surname forms where it can be related to Kister or Kiister. In England and Scotland it has often functioned as a reduced form of Christopher rather than a separate hereditary surname from the start. The 19th-century surname literature is somewhat inconsistent on it, so the exact origin can vary by family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century source explicitly links Kester with the shortening of Christopher into forms like Kit and Kester.
From the historical record
“1,0,1. KestertoiL^Local, < of Kester- t<m.' I have not found the spot. Birmingham, 5 « London, i. KesteTeiL— Local, 'of Kest- even.' Lower says, ' A division of”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)