Meaning not yet researched.
Earnest: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 25 in 2025. Its best rank was #106 in 1900.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #106 in 1900; #4,164 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Earnest in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#4,164 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1900, at #106.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Earnest: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 25 boys in 2025. Peak: #106 in 1900 · most boys in one year: 1,149 (1926).
In 2025, 25 US boys were named Earnest, making it the 4,164th most common boys’ name of the year, up 1,336 places from #5,500 in 2024. That is 8 more than the 17 boys named Earnest in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #106, reached in 1900. The most boys given the name in a single year was 1,149, in 1926. For comparison, it was #3,386 in 2015 and #213 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Earnest in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 88 babies with the name. In all, 59,115 US babies have been given the name, 1.2% of them girls and 99% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 11,014 babies named Earnest.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 262 US boys were named Earnest; the busiest of those years was 2018, with 40. In 2025 that was about 1 in 68,323 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Ernest (304,354 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Earnie are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Ernestine and Ernie.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Rare spellings summarised here: Earnie (1,506).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 25 | #4,164 |
| 2024 | — | — | 17 | #5,500 |
| 2023 | — | — | 24 | #4,377 |
| 2022 | — | — | 24 | #4,340 |
| 2021 | — | — | 21 | #4,675 |
| 2020 | — | — | 28 | #3,748 |
| 2019 | — | — | 27 | #3,921 |
| 2018 | — | — | 40 | #2,963 |
| 2017 | — | — | 32 | #3,466 |
| 2016 | — | — | 24 | #4,230 |
| 2015 | — | — | 33 | #3,386 |
| 2014 | — | — | 37 | #3,052 |
| 2013 | — | — | 31 | #3,436 |
| 2012 | — | — | 50 | #2,503 |
| 2011 | — | — | 53 | #2,387 |
| 2010 | — | — | 37 | #3,091 |
| 2009 | — | — | 44 | #2,769 |
| 2008 | — | — | 51 | #2,481 |
| 2007 | — | — | 50 | #2,512 |
| 2006 | — | — | 59 | #2,191 |
| 2005 | — | — | 49 | #2,380 |
| 2004 | — | — | 56 | #2,108 |
| 2003 | — | — | 50 | #2,187 |
| 2002 | — | — | 63 | #1,823 |
| 2001 | — | — | 69 | #1,684 |
| 2000 | — | — | 68 | #1,687 |
| 1999 | — | — | 77 | #1,480 |
| 1998 | — | — | 98 | #1,239 |
| 1997 | — | — | 88 | #1,299 |
| 1996 | — | — | 84 | #1,306 |
| 1995 | — | — | 92 | #1,209 |
| 1994 | — | — | 116 | #1,033 |
| 1993 | — | — | 92 | #1,163 |
| 1992 | — | — | 135 | #912 |
| 1991 | — | — | 126 | #947 |
| 1990 | — | — | 145 | #849 |
| 1989 | — | — | 169 | #760 |
| 1988 | — | — | 157 | #756 |
| 1987 | — | — | 170 | #699 |
| 1986 | — | — | 195 | #642 |
| 1985 | — | — | 178 | #659 |
| 1984 | — | — | 174 | #655 |
| 1983 | — | — | 210 | #582 |
| 1982 | — | — | 255 | #535 |
| 1981 | — | — | 236 | #554 |
| 1980 | 5 | #10,824 | 251 | #541 |
| 1979 | 5 | #10,631 | 245 | #545 |
| 1978 | — | — | 218 | #568 |
| 1977 | — | — | 266 | #501 |
| 1976 | — | — | 281 | #469 |
| 1975 | 6 | #8,278 | 285 | #473 |
| 1974 | — | — | 281 | #474 |
| 1973 | — | — | 306 | #446 |
| 1972 | 5 | #8,623 | 334 | #434 |
| 1971 | 8 | #6,165 | 362 | #426 |
| 1970 | 9 | #5,506 | 383 | #417 |
| 1969 | 5 | #7,783 | 380 | #409 |
| 1968 | — | — | 390 | #393 |
| 1967 | 10 | #4,386 | 379 | #386 |
| 1966 | 10 | #4,272 | 423 | #368 |
| 1965 | 12 | #3,798 | 443 | #366 |
| 1964 | 7 | #5,626 | 417 | #391 |
| 1963 | 5 | #6,877 | 468 | #364 |
| 1962 | — | — | 499 | #353 |
| 1961 | 11 | #4,082 | 524 | #345 |
| 1960 | 17 | #3,019 | 592 | #320 |
| 1959 | 14 | #3,306 | 559 | #326 |
| 1958 | 12 | #3,599 | 634 | #298 |
| 1957 | 12 | #3,532 | 631 | #303 |
| 1956 | 12 | #3,545 | 727 | #272 |
| 1955 | 10 | #3,859 | 696 | #269 |
| 1954 | 17 | #2,722 | 771 | #250 |
| 1953 | 17 | #2,621 | 787 | #239 |
| 1952 | 13 | #3,081 | 814 | #233 |
| 1951 | 12 | #3,151 | 803 | #239 |
| 1950 | 18 | #2,369 | 888 | #213 |
| 1949 | 18 | #2,358 | 888 | #213 |
| 1948 | 10 | #3,423 | 899 | #211 |
| 1947 | 12 | #3,104 | 982 | #203 |
| 1946 | 11 | #3,084 | 850 | #202 |
| 1945 | 20 | #1,895 | 807 | #188 |
| 1944 | 9 | #3,200 | 896 | #182 |
| 1943 | 18 | #2,096 | 940 | #177 |
| 1942 | 11 | #2,867 | 835 | #192 |
| 1941 | 19 | #1,899 | 812 | #185 |
| 1940 | 12 | #2,457 | 797 | #184 |
| 1939 | 18 | #1,900 | 808 | #177 |
| 1938 | 17 | #1,967 | 827 | #176 |
| 1937 | 10 | #2,786 | 833 | #174 |
| 1936 | 14 | #2,181 | 815 | #170 |
| 1935 | 16 | #2,024 | 881 | #163 |
| 1934 | 13 | #2,328 | 921 | #161 |
| 1933 | 8 | #3,187 | 858 | #166 |
| 1932 | 13 | #2,401 | 872 | #169 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,463 | 916 | #162 |
| 1930 | 11 | #2,732 | 991 | #153 |
| 1929 | 14 | #2,345 | 996 | #155 |
| 1928 | 14 | #2,414 | 1,043 | #153 |
| 1927 | 15 | #2,363 | 1,062 | #148 |
| 1926 | 10 | #3,100 | 1,149 | #147 |
| 1925 | 15 | #2,407 | 1,103 | #148 |
| 1924 | 14 | #2,562 | 1,144 | #145 |
| 1923 | 19 | #2,040 | 1,063 | #146 |
| 1922 | 20 | #1,973 | 1,089 | #143 |
| 1921 | 14 | #2,535 | 1,128 | #138 |
| 1920 | 10 | #3,165 | 1,092 | #140 |
| 1919 | 13 | #2,552 | 1,064 | #139 |
| 1918 | 9 | #3,311 | 1,081 | #142 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,814 | 924 | #143 |
| 1916 | 9 | #3,093 | 780 | #155 |
| 1915 | — | — | 824 | #143 |
| 1914 | 7 | #2,970 | 638 | #147 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,614 | 521 | #144 |
| 1912 | — | — | 486 | #132 |
| 1911 | — | — | 283 | #125 |
| 1910 | — | — | 255 | #128 |
| 1909 | — | — | 255 | #108 |
| 1908 | — | — | 230 | #111 |
| 1907 | — | — | 225 | #107 |
| 1906 | — | — | 183 | #117 |
| 1905 | — | — | 172 | #124 |
| 1904 | — | — | 189 | #110 |
| 1903 | — | — | 140 | #134 |
| 1902 | — | — | 159 | #121 |
| 1901 | — | — | 131 | #127 |
| 1900 | — | — | 223 | #106 |
| 1899 | — | — | 146 | #114 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,773 | 161 | #114 |
| 1897 | — | — | 148 | #116 |
| 1896 | — | — | 144 | #124 |
| 1895 | — | — | 143 | #118 |
| 1894 | — | — | 131 | #119 |
| 1893 | — | — | 132 | #121 |
| 1892 | — | — | 149 | #116 |
| 1891 | — | — | 114 | #121 |
| 1890 | — | — | 122 | #120 |
| 1889 | — | — | 101 | #145 |
| 1888 | — | — | 138 | #118 |
| 1887 | — | — | 99 | #129 |
| 1886 | — | — | 105 | #131 |
| 1885 | — | — | 120 | #113 |
| 1884 | — | — | 109 | #132 |
| 1883 | — | — | 87 | #149 |
| 1882 | — | — | 104 | #134 |
| 1881 | — | — | 92 | #132 |
| 1880 | — | — | 88 | #154 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).