Ernesto

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Ernest in GR Greece and Эрнесто in RU Russia.

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 14 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◐

Ernesto is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name481K records spelled Ernesto15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Venezuela, Philippines, Brazil

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Ernésto, Èrnesto, Ernestö, Ernęstö, Ërnesto

• a separate given name70K records spelled Ernesto2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, Italy, United Kingdom

  Also written Ėrnesto

• Indonesian given name8.7K records spelled Ernesto3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, Indonesia, United States, Peru

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Ernėsto

80 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●

Ernesto 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 Spanish, Germánico: Ernust, 'lucha, firmeza, fortaleza', luego 'resoluto, serio'.

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

• In Italian, Dal tedesco moderno Ernst; anticamente Ernost, forse da radice ar- 'aquila'.

  as a name·Dizionario Dei Nomi e Cognomi Italiani

• In Italian, Yclla forma tedesca niodernu Rrnst pure equivalente a1 latino Severus; m a la piu antica ilruust seconilo alcuni autori deriverebhe dalla rudice ar = :quila. Cfr. Srnnldo, LZrnolfo2 ecc. S. Eroesto. I ? gciiiiaio. <.'opi. Ernesti. Xesti (anche = Oiiesti).

  as a name·Nomi e Cognomi: Saggio di ricerche etimologiche e storiche

• In Italian, forma italiana de Ernestus.

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

• In French, Forme italienne/espagnole d’Ernest, germanique ernst « sérieux, ferme ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

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) — 125 years between 1889–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ernesto Teodoro Monetab. 1833ITItalian journalist, revolutionary soldier and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1833–1918)
• Che Guevarab. 1928ARnot in their usual nameArgentine Marxist revolutionary (1928–1967)
• Ernesto Gastaldib. 1934ITItalian screenwriter
• Ernesto Laclaub. 1935ARArgentine philosopher and political theorist (1935-2014)
• Zedillob. 1951MXnot in their usual name61st President of Mexico
• Steven Bauerb. 1956CUnot in their usual nameEuro-Indigenous Cuban-American character actor, producer, musician, and entrepreneur
• Ernesto Valverdeb. 1964ESSpanish association football player and manager
• Miguel Herrerab. 1968MXnot in their usual nameMexican association football player and manager (born 1968)
• Jimmy Moralesb. 1969GTnot in their usual nameComedian and former President of Guatemala
• Nicolás Maduro Guerrab. 1990VEnot in their usual nameVenezuelan politician and son of Nicolás Maduro

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 · 949 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ernesto?

We estimate roughly 234 thousand people bear Ernesto (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Ernesto have the most bearers?

Ernesto is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled ernesto.

How common is Ernesto compared with other names?

In Argentina, Ernesto is the 137th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Ernesto a male or female name?

Ernesto 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 Ernesto mean?

Recorded meaning: Germanic. See f}Ermest in main dictionary.