Ernst

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◐

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

• a separate given name12K records spelled Ernst5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Switzerland, Sweden

  Also written Ėrnst, Ernsṭ, Érnst, Èrnst

• Polish given name7.7K records spelled Ernst7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, United States

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak

  Also written Èrnst, Ėrnst, Érnst

• Swedish given name2.8K records spelled Ernst2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sweden, United States, Norway, Netherlands

  Also written Ėrnst

86 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●

Ernst 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 German, serious, severe, grave

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, alter deutscher männl. Vom. (ahd. emust »Emst, Eifer; Kampf, Sorge«). Der

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Swedish, Ernst (m.fl. former) är ett tyskt namn, ursprungligen ett binamn, bildat till forn högtyskans ernust ’allvar’. Ernesto är en romansk form. Kända namnbärare är konstnären Ernst Billgren (f. 1957) och tv-profilen Ernst Kirchsteiger (f. 1957). I den rikssvenska almanackan 2 mars och i den finlandssvenska 13 mars.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In English, /. Richard R., Swiss chemist

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In German, from ahd. ernust 'earnestness, struggle'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

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) — 132 years between 1880–2021. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ernst Chladnib. 1756DEGerman physicist, mathematician and musician (1756 – 1827)
• Werner von Siemensb. 1816DEnot in their usual nameGerman electrical engineer, inventor and industrialist (1816–1892)
• Ernst Haeckelb. 1834DEGerman zoologist (1834-1919)
• Ernst Ludwig Kirchnerb. 1880DEGerman painter, sculptor, engraver and printmaker (1880–1938)
• Walter Ulbrichtb. 1893DEnot in their usual nameGerman communist politician and dictator (1893–1973)
• Wolfgang Paulib. 1900ATnot in their usual namephysicist, Nobel prize winner (1900–1958)
• Ernst Boris Chainb. 1906DEJewish-German-born British biochemist (1906–1979)
• Erich Honeckerb. 1912DEnot in their usual nameformer leader of East Germany, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (1976-1989)
• Willy Brandb. 1913DEnot in their usual nameGerman politician (SPD), chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• Egon Krenzb. 1937DEnot in their usual nameGerman politician, communist leader of East Germany

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 · 555 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ernst?

We estimate roughly 16 thousand people bear Ernst (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Ernst have the most bearers?

Ernst is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled ernst.

How common is Ernst compared with other names?

In Germany, Ernst is the 157th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Ernst a male or female name?

Ernst 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 Ernst mean?

Recorded meaning: serious