Meaning: Its source is a Latin expression meaning "Goddess of the hearth."

Nickname For: Silvestra

Variant Forms: Vesteria

Popularity: The name Vesta ranked 1178th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Though this name has fluctuated in use, it has been quietly present throughout the last century.

Narrative: It was the Latin name of one of the three virgin goddesses of antiquity, known to the Greeks as Hestia. (The others were Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Artemis, goddess of the moon.)

In cities throughout the ancient world, the goddess of the hearth was offered thanks and reverence at every meal, and the fire at her shrine was never allowed to go out. The keepers of that sacred fire in ancient Rome were known as Vestal Virgins, and it was a great honor for a Roman family to count one of its daughters among them.