A variant of Hadassah, a Hebrew name meaning “myrtle,” the fragrant plant associated with Queen Esther.
Hadasa is a variant of Hadassah, one of the oldest documented feminine names in the Hebrew biblical tradition. The name appears in the Book of Esther, where Hadassah is the Hebrew name of Esther herself — the Jewish woman who became Queen of Persia and, through extraordinary courage, saved her people from genocide. In Hebrew, Hadassah means "myrtle tree," a plant that held deep symbolic significance in ancient Near Eastern culture: the myrtle represented peace, fertility, and the divine presence, and was used in religious ceremonies and bridal garlands.
For centuries Hadassah was primarily a Jewish name, carrying the full weight of the Purim story and its themes of hidden identity, female courage, and providential timing. In 1912 the name gained an institutional dimension when Henrietta Szold founded Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, which went on to build hospitals and medical infrastructure in Israel and became one of the largest Jewish organizations in the world. The name thus moved from biblical heroine to living institution.
Hadasa, the simplified spelling without the double letter, softens the name slightly while retaining its ancient meaning and resonance. It appears across Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish communities as well as in parts of Latin America and Portugal, where the phonetics align naturally with Ibero-Romance languages. For families seeking a name rooted in one of history's most celebrated stories of female courage, Hadasa carries that inheritance with beauty and grace.