Ernestine
A feminine name with Germanic roots, meaning "completely earnest" or "vigor".
Name Census estimates that about 13,264 living Americans carry the first name Ernestine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ernestine today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ernestine births was 1928 (1,067 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ernestine. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ernestine with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Ernestine is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 159 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Ernestine is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ernestines were born before 1965.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 25,841 Americans
Peak year
1928
1,067 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1957 SSA rank
#3,691
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ernestine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 16,432 people with the first name Ernestine, which placed it at #1,805 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,805
National first-name rank
People counted
16K
16,432 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ernestine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ernestine is Black at 58.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Hispanic (10.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ernestine described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ernestine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.8% · 9,667
- White26.4% · 4,337
- Hispanic or Latino10.0% · 1,644
- Two or more races2.1% · 345
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 308
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 131
Gender
Gender distribution for Ernestine
Out of the 44,191 babies given the name Ernestine since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Ernestine as a male name
- Ranked #3,691 in 1957
- 6 male births in 1957
- Peak: 1931 (12 births)
Ernestine as a female name
- Ranked #14,013 in 2021
- 6 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1928 (1,057 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ernestine appears almost entirely female. Of the 16,426 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Ernestine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ernestine from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 9,661 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ernestine by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ernestine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ernestines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Ernestine, while Vermont, Nebraska, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 862 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ernestine
Ernestine is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the Old High German name Ernst or Ernust, which means "estate" or "battle". The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages and has been used across various European cultures and languages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ernestine dates back to the 9th century, when it was mentioned in the Frankish Chronicles. It was initially a masculine name, but over time, it evolved into a feminine form, particularly in France and Germany.
In the 12th century, Ernestine appeared in the writings of the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, who mentioned a character named Ernestine in his epic poem "Parzival". This early literary reference contributed to the name's recognition and spread throughout Europe.
During the Renaissance period, the name Ernestine gained further prominence. One notable historical figure was Ernestine of Bavaria (1551-1598), a Duchess of Bavaria and a patron of the arts, who played a significant role in the cultural life of the Bavarian court.
In the 17th century, Ernestine de Ligne (1594-1668) was a renowned French courtier and salonnière, known for her wit and literary talents. She hosted influential salons in Paris and contributed to the development of French literature and culture.
Another prominent figure with the name Ernestine was Ernestine Rose (1810-1892), a Polish-born American feminist and abolitionist. She was a pioneering advocate for women's rights and played a crucial role in the early women's suffrage movement in the United States.
In the realm of arts and literature, Ernestine Schumann-Heink (1861-1936) was a renowned German operatic contralto, celebrated for her powerful voice and versatile performances. She was one of the most acclaimed opera singers of her time.
Ernestine Bethurum-Hinkledy (1901-1978) was an American scholar and academic, known for her contributions to the study of medieval English literature. She served as a professor at various prestigious universities and published influential works on Chaucer and other medieval writers.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Ernestine, highlighting its rich cultural heritage and enduring popularity across different eras and regions.
People
Ernestine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ernestine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ernestine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ernestine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,264 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ernestine going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 25,841 US residents.
Is Ernestine a common name?
We classify Ernestine as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 44,191 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ernestine most popular?
The single biggest year for Ernestine was 1928, when 1,067 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ernestine is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ernestine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 16,432 people with the name Ernestine, or 5.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,805 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ernestine in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ernestine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ernestine appears almost entirely female. Of the 16,426 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ernestine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ernestine is Black at 58.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Hispanic (10.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ernestine most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ernestine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (9,667 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ernestine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ernestine a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Ernestine in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ernestine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ernestine in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ernestine can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Ernestine?
You can see how many people share the name Ernestine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.