Ernest

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled ארנסט in IL Israel, Ერნესტ in GE Georgia and ארנסטו in AR Argentina.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 10 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ernest is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name327K records spelled Ernest12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Brazil, Canada

  Languages: French, Portuguese, Catalan

  Also written Ernêst, Érnest, Erñest, Ërnëšt, Érñést

• Spanish given name134K records spelled Ernest7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Spain, Argentina, Colombia

  Also written Ernëst, Ernést, Ërñêst, Èrñêst, Ėrnest

• Russian given name97K records spelled Ernest66 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, United States

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Ukrainian

  Also written Эрнест, Эрнст, Ернест, Эрнэст, Ernst

• a separate given name59K records spelled Ernest4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Èrnest, Ėrnest, Ernesṭ

• Swahili given name54K records spelled Ernest7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, United States, South Africa, Nigeria

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho, Kinyarwanda

  Also written Erñest

• Hindi given name12K records spelled Ernest16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, India

  Languages: Hindi, Sinhala, Urdu

  Also written Earnest, Ernst, Arnest, Arnesta, Arneshta

• Indonesian given name7.4K records spelled Ernest4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Erneşt, Ëřñëšt

83 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ernest is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, From Germanic ernust, 'seriousness' or 'earnestness'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, from OG Arn(e)gis / OFr Erneϊs, Ernaϊs, Hernaϊs, Hernays; first attested Hamo filius Erneis 1115 Winton (Ha)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• Of Germanic origin, derived from the Old High German vocabulary word eornost ‘serious business’, ‘battle to the death’. The name was introduced into

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Germanic. See main dictionary. Esmé ¢ From Latin Aestimdtus ‘esteemed’, _ ‘highly valued’. Feminine form: Esmée.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Germanic, ‘vigour’. Aname used in Ireland to anglicise Ernan.

  as a name·Irish first names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ernest Renanb. 1823FRFrench philosopher and writer (1823–1892)
• George Vb. 1865GBnot in their usual nameKing of the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1936
• Fredric Marchb. 1897USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (1897–1975)
• Ernest Hemingwayb. 1899USAmerican author and journalist (1899–1961)
• Ernest Lawrenceb. 1901USAmerican nuclear physicist (1901–1958)
• John Steinbeckb. 1902USnot in their usual nameAmerican writer (1902–1968)
• Ernest Thomas Sinton Waltonb. 1903IEIrish physicist and Nobel laureate (1903-1995)
• Ernest Borgnineb. 1917USAmerican actor (1917–2012)
• Eric Hobsbawmb. 1917GBnot in their usual nameBritish academic historian and Marxist historiographer (1917–2012)
• Ron Paulb. 1935USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (born 1935)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,105 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ernest?

We estimate roughly 198 thousand people bear Ernest (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Ernest have the most bearers?

We estimate about 114 thousand people bear Ernest in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled ernest.

Where is Ernest most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Ernest is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 1.1 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Ernest compared with other names?

In the United States, Ernest is the 257th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Ernest a male or female name?

Ernest is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ernest mean?

Recorded meaning: Germanic, ‘vigour’; used in Ireland to anglicise Ernan.