ninan.org

Ernest

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~117,900 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,038 among boys
Births in 2025
213 304,354 since 1880
Typical age
65 years, median

Ernest popularity over time

Ernest rank by birth year, 1880–2025Ernest ranked #26 in 1880 and #1,038 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #21, in 1885.#100#1,000#1,038best #21 in 188518901920195019802010
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.

Ernest was used most in 1921, when 5,723 babies were given the name. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Ernest has spent 77 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #1,038 with 213 births. It climbed 38 places against the previous year.

Babies named Ernest per yearPeaks at 5,723 births in 1921.5,723 in 1921018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Ernest?

Roughly 117,900 Ernests are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 304,354 births under the name 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 Ernest?

Median age among living Ernests: 65. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Ernest a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Ernest

Ages of living people named ErnestHalf of living Ernests are older than 65 and half younger.median 65020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Ernest is most common

Relative to births, Minnesota carries 2.0× the national share of Ernests. Indiana and Wisconsin follow.

Where Ernest is used more than average3 states use the name Ernest more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 2.0× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: 1.5× the national rateWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: 1.6× the national rateINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 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: not over-representedMAArizona: 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: not over-representedDCOklahoma: 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 Ernest is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Minnesota 56 2.0×
Indiana 57 1.6×
Wisconsin 42 1.5×

Ernest in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Ernest ranked #252 in 2025 on 185 births.

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

Where the name Ernest comes from

Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.

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

Notable people named Ernest

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Ernest Hemingway American author and journalist 1899–1961 207
Ernest Rutherford New Zealand physicist 1871–1937 172
Ernest Lawrence American nuclear physicist 1901–1958 93
Ernest Renan French philosopher and writer 1823–1892 82
Ernest Walton Irish physicist and Nobel laureate 1903–1995 81
Ernest Borgnine American actor 1917–2012 77
Ernest Shackleton Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer 1874–1922 76
Ernest Bai Koroma Sierra Leonean President 1953 50
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,349 in 1911 to 2,578 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.

Related pages

Get this data

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