ninan.org

Edward

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~614,300 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#224 among boys
Births in 2025
1,591 1,308,955 since 1880
Typical age
61 years, median

Edward popularity over time

Edward rank by birth year, 1880–2025Edward ranked #11 in 1880 and #224 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #8, in 1912.#10#100#224best #8 in 191218901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Edward in 1924 than in any other year — 21,223 of them. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Across the record, 118 years put Edward in the top 100.

The 2025 position is #224, on 1,591 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 39%.

Babies named Edward per yearPeaks at 21,223 births in 1924.21,223 in 1924018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Edward?

Roughly 614,300 Edwards are alive in the US right now. That is out of 1,308,955 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Edward?

The typical living Edward is 61 years old. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Edward a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Edward

Ages of living people named EdwardHalf of living Edwards are older than 61 and half younger.median 61020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Edward is most common

Edward is 3.2× as common in District of Columbia as it is nationally. Alaska, Rhode Island and Massachusetts follow.

Where Edward is used more than average5 states use the name Edward more than the national average.Alaska: 2.4× the national rateAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: 2.1× the national rateNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: 2.1× the national rateRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 2.1× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 3.2× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Edward is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
District of Columbia 115 3.2×
Alaska 63 2.4×
Rhode Island 73 2.1×
Massachusetts 626 2.1×
New Hampshire 95 2.1×

Edward in England and Wales

ONS recorded 1,385 births named Edward in 2025, ranking it #31. That is 21% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Edward comes from

From Middle English Edward, from Old English Ēadweard, from Proto-West Germanic *Audawardu, from Proto-Germanic *Audawarduz, corresponding to ed (“wealth, riches”) + ward (“ward, guard”), Doublet of Eduard.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Edward

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Edward Snowden American whistleblower and former NSA contractor 1983 116
Edward Jenner English physician, scientist and pioneer of vaccination 1749–1823 114
Edward VIII King of the United Kingdom in 1936 1894–1972 109
Edward VII King of the United Kingdom from 1901 to 1910 1841–1910 108
Edward Gibbon English historian and politician 1737–1794 104
Edward VI king of England and Ireland from 1547 to 1553 1537–1553 94
Edward Norton American actor 1969 90
Edward Said Palestinian-American professor 1935–2003 90
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 4,175 in 1911 to 7,963 in 1912 — 1.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Edward

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Edward was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/edward.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).