Meaning not yet researched.
Ernest: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 213 in 2025. Its best rank was #21 in 1885.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #21 in 1885; #1,040 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Ernest in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,040 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1885, at #21.
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.
Ernest: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 213 boys in 2025. Peak: #21 in 1885 · most boys in one year: 5,697 (1921).
In 2025, 213 US boys were named Ernest, making it the 1,040th most common boys’ name of the year, up 37 places from #1,077 in 2024. That is 11 more than the 202 boys named Ernest in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #21, reached in 1885. The most boys given the name in a single year was 5,697, in 1921. For comparison, it was #956 in 2015 and #81 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Ernest in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 615 babies with the name. In all, 304,354 US babies have been given the name, 0.6% of them girls and 99% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 54,033 babies named Ernest.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 2,046 US boys were named Ernest; the busiest of those years was 2017, with 219. In 2025 that was about 1 in 8,019 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Ernest ranked highest in Nebraska in 2025, at #459 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Earnest (59,115 babies since 1880) and Ernesto (44,816 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Ernst, Ernist and Erniest are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to 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.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Catalan, Dutch, German, Polish and Slovene. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Ernst (2,383), Ernist (10), Erniest (5).
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.
Ernest is listed as a nickname for Ernestine.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US boys. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five boys got the name, so 31 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 5 | #459 | — |
| Washington | 11 | #611 | #1,003 |
| Utah | 6 | #640 | — |
| Wisconsin | 7 | #645 | — |
| Arizona | 9 | #689 | #815 |
| Minnesota | 6 | #733 | — |
| Michigan | 10 | #734 | #729 |
| Indiana | 7 | #796 | #682 |
| Missouri | 6 | #813 | — |
| California | 30 | #816 | #850 |
| Maryland | 5 | #843 | — |
| Pennsylvania | 7 | #1,034 | #970 |
| Tennessee | 5 | #1,080 | — |
| Ohio | 6 | #1,151 | #864 |
| North Carolina | 6 | #1,187 | — |
| Georgia | 6 | #1,258 | #1,034 |
| Florida | 9 | #1,286 | #991 |
| New York | 8 | #1,336 | #1,274 |
| Illinois | 5 | #1,351 | #797 |
| Texas | 14 | #1,365 | #1,076 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 213 | #1,040 |
| 2024 | — | — | 202 | #1,077 |
| 2023 | — | — | 213 | #1,028 |
| 2022 | — | — | 186 | #1,131 |
| 2021 | — | — | 187 | #1,108 |
| 2020 | — | — | 208 | #1,009 |
| 2019 | — | — | 193 | #1,057 |
| 2018 | — | — | 215 | #965 |
| 2017 | — | — | 219 | #951 |
| 2016 | — | — | 210 | #977 |
| 2015 | — | — | 216 | #956 |
| 2014 | — | — | 247 | #878 |
| 2013 | — | — | 217 | #934 |
| 2012 | — | — | 223 | #923 |
| 2011 | — | — | 253 | #847 |
| 2010 | — | — | 218 | #926 |
| 2009 | — | — | 251 | #850 |
| 2008 | — | — | 277 | #793 |
| 2007 | — | — | 289 | #761 |
| 2006 | — | — | 298 | #725 |
| 2005 | — | — | 336 | #649 |
| 2004 | — | — | 368 | #595 |
| 2003 | — | — | 363 | #595 |
| 2002 | — | — | 353 | #591 |
| 2001 | — | — | 357 | #576 |
| 2000 | — | — | 440 | #514 |
| 1999 | — | — | 387 | #536 |
| 1998 | — | — | 450 | #485 |
| 1997 | — | — | 480 | #461 |
| 1996 | — | — | 517 | #437 |
| 1995 | — | — | 491 | #460 |
| 1994 | — | — | 591 | #392 |
| 1993 | — | — | 644 | #367 |
| 1992 | — | — | 721 | #337 |
| 1991 | 10 | #8,160 | 853 | #299 |
| 1990 | — | — | 920 | #283 |
| 1989 | 10 | #7,614 | 955 | #265 |
| 1988 | 9 | #7,904 | 1,002 | #239 |
| 1987 | 7 | #9,073 | 947 | #245 |
| 1986 | 10 | #6,757 | 1,007 | #233 |
| 1985 | 9 | #7,131 | 1,072 | #220 |
| 1984 | 11 | #6,022 | 1,148 | #203 |
| 1983 | 11 | #5,931 | 1,191 | #199 |
| 1982 | 14 | #5,011 | 1,240 | #200 |
| 1981 | 9 | #6,961 | 1,304 | #193 |
| 1980 | 17 | #4,381 | 1,370 | #180 |
| 1979 | 18 | #4,092 | 1,399 | #171 |
| 1978 | 7 | #7,871 | 1,381 | #171 |
| 1977 | 16 | #4,282 | 1,485 | #161 |
| 1976 | 16 | #4,013 | 1,482 | #160 |
| 1975 | 14 | #4,419 | 1,515 | #161 |
| 1974 | 15 | #4,089 | 1,642 | #150 |
| 1973 | 11 | #4,977 | 1,680 | #149 |
| 1972 | 16 | #3,763 | 1,767 | #147 |
| 1971 | 21 | #3,196 | 2,101 | #143 |
| 1970 | 19 | #3,341 | 2,304 | #143 |
| 1969 | 21 | #2,939 | 2,357 | #130 |
| 1968 | 12 | #4,066 | 2,246 | #130 |
| 1967 | 21 | #2,723 | 2,351 | #128 |
| 1966 | 8 | #4,994 | 2,505 | #122 |
| 1965 | 22 | #2,624 | 2,578 | #124 |
| 1964 | 24 | #2,556 | 2,816 | #124 |
| 1963 | 20 | #2,806 | 2,904 | #122 |
| 1962 | 24 | #2,482 | 2,849 | #127 |
| 1961 | 27 | #2,313 | 3,096 | #123 |
| 1960 | 24 | #2,460 | 3,190 | #120 |
| 1959 | 24 | #2,358 | 3,341 | #118 |
| 1958 | 23 | #2,406 | 3,516 | #113 |
| 1957 | 18 | #2,751 | 3,786 | #101 |
| 1956 | 27 | #2,116 | 3,952 | #94 |
| 1955 | 14 | #3,132 | 3,975 | #90 |
| 1954 | 17 | #2,726 | 4,202 | #87 |
| 1953 | 14 | #2,974 | 4,095 | #87 |
| 1952 | 23 | #2,149 | 4,123 | #87 |
| 1951 | 16 | #2,620 | 4,382 | #83 |
| 1950 | 19 | #2,278 | 4,308 | #81 |
| 1949 | 31 | #1,717 | 4,346 | #76 |
| 1948 | 20 | #2,207 | 4,512 | #76 |
| 1947 | 15 | #2,674 | 4,787 | #75 |
| 1946 | 13 | #2,775 | 4,395 | #71 |
| 1945 | 22 | #1,808 | 4,005 | #60 |
| 1944 | 30 | #1,498 | 4,042 | #59 |
| 1943 | 25 | #1,715 | 4,172 | #61 |
| 1942 | 25 | #1,678 | 4,079 | #61 |
| 1941 | 21 | #1,762 | 3,726 | #61 |
| 1940 | 21 | #1,759 | 3,698 | #58 |
| 1939 | 18 | #1,904 | 3,688 | #55 |
| 1938 | 34 | #1,252 | 3,708 | #55 |
| 1937 | 15 | #2,116 | 3,759 | #53 |
| 1936 | 30 | #1,329 | 3,715 | #55 |
| 1935 | 21 | #1,688 | 3,702 | #55 |
| 1934 | 27 | #1,423 | 3,849 | #51 |
| 1933 | 33 | #1,251 | 3,674 | #50 |
| 1932 | 35 | #1,223 | 4,166 | #47 |
| 1931 | 33 | #1,266 | 4,298 | #47 |
| 1930 | 35 | #1,278 | 4,787 | #43 |
| 1929 | 39 | #1,200 | 4,753 | #43 |
| 1928 | 46 | #1,120 | 4,941 | #43 |
| 1927 | 51 | #1,072 | 5,208 | #41 |
| 1926 | 37 | #1,289 | 5,436 | #37 |
| 1925 | 45 | #1,153 | 5,494 | #37 |
| 1924 | 39 | #1,286 | 5,683 | #37 |
| 1923 | 28 | #1,566 | 5,372 | #38 |
| 1922 | 34 | #1,380 | 5,503 | #37 |
| 1921 | 26 | #1,687 | 5,697 | #38 |
| 1920 | 35 | #1,323 | 5,566 | #37 |
| 1919 | 25 | #1,616 | 5,296 | #36 |
| 1918 | 32 | #1,365 | 5,527 | #37 |
| 1917 | 15 | #2,233 | 5,055 | #37 |
| 1916 | 27 | #1,416 | 4,823 | #36 |
| 1915 | 23 | #1,539 | 4,787 | #35 |
| 1914 | 18 | #1,563 | 3,632 | #38 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,935 | 2,940 | #34 |
| 1912 | 9 | #2,031 | 2,569 | #32 |
| 1911 | 11 | #1,482 | 1,338 | #32 |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,528 | 1,167 | #31 |
| 1909 | 7 | #1,828 | 885 | #34 |
| 1908 | 5 | #2,216 | 1,000 | #31 |
| 1907 | 9 | #1,430 | 978 | #30 |
| 1906 | — | — | 943 | #28 |
| 1905 | 8 | #1,460 | 845 | #31 |
| 1904 | 9 | #1,297 | 749 | #32 |
| 1903 | — | — | 764 | #30 |
| 1902 | 6 | #1,661 | 790 | #29 |
| 1901 | 9 | #1,163 | 691 | #28 |
| 1900 | 5 | #2,023 | 1,012 | #30 |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,681 | 744 | #27 |
| 1898 | 7 | #1,414 | 839 | #28 |
| 1897 | — | — | 785 | #27 |
| 1896 | — | — | 764 | #29 |
| 1895 | 11 | #1,009 | 834 | #24 |
| 1894 | — | — | 821 | #24 |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,497 | 796 | #23 |
| 1892 | 14 | #807 | 805 | #26 |
| 1891 | — | — | 715 | #22 |
| 1890 | — | — | 774 | #22 |
| 1889 | 9 | #921 | 736 | #23 |
| 1888 | 6 | #1,183 | 766 | #27 |
| 1887 | 7 | #977 | 653 | #23 |
| 1886 | 5 | #1,162 | 668 | #25 |
| 1885 | — | — | 718 | #21 |
| 1884 | — | — | 690 | #25 |
| 1883 | — | — | 641 | #23 |
| 1882 | — | — | 642 | #27 |
| 1881 | — | — | 571 | #25 |
| 1880 | — | — | 615 | #26 |
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).