Ernest

Primarily a boy's name · 100% boys

Meaning

Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic word ernst, meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:

From Wikipedia

Ernest first appears in the data in 1996 and has been recorded in 21 different years as a boy's name. Its single biggest year was 2016 with 150 babies (rank #320 that year). It was not in the 2024 data. The name has been declining over the last five years.

Numerology of Ernest

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Ernest yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

9Destiny numberThe humanitarianIdealistic, compassionate, thinks in big-picture terms.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
1Soul urgeThe leaderIndependent, pioneering, drawn to going first.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
8PersonalityThe achieverDriven, capable, comfortable wielding influence.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

1,033

Total babies (all years)

Years in the data

150

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Boys

Famous people named Ernest

Ernest Hemingwayshort story writer · b. 1899
Ernest Rutherfordnuclear physicist · b. 1871
Ernest Orlando Lawrencenuclear physicist · b. 1901
Ernest Renanreligious studies scholar · b. 1823
Ernest Thomas Sinton Waltonuniversity teacher · b. 1903

More popular boys' names

Other boys' names starting with E

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1996	9	#1,372
1997	9	#1,378
1998	5	#2,169
1999	9	#1,417
2000	9	#1,473
2001	10	#1,406
2002	20	#882
2003	20	#951
2004	16	#1,173
2005	24	#929
2006	36	#726
2007	43	#670
2008	47	#650
2009	53	#612
2010	59	#575
2011	63	#559
2012	109	#383
2013	91	#441
2014	102	#398
2015	149	#314
2016	150	#320