# English (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/english/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “of the angles”, “english”, “the angles”, “narrow”, “anxiety”, “sin” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɪŋ.(ɡ)lɪʃ/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Inglish, Englishe |
| US babies named this | 451 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 186 / 265 (59% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

From Middle English Englisch, English, Inglis, from Old English Englisċ (“of the Angles; English”), from Engle (“the Angles”), a Germanic tribe + -isċ; equivalent to Engle + -ish. Doublet of Anglish. Compare West Frisian Ingelsk, Scots Inglis (older ynglis), Dutch Engels, Danish engelsk, Old French Englesche (whence French anglais), German englisch, Spanish inglés, all ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- (“narrow”) (compare Sanskrit अंहु (áṃhu, “narrow”), अंहस् (áṃhas, “anxiety, sin”), Latin angustus (“narrow”), Old Church Slavonic ѫзъкъ (ǫzŭkŭ, “narrow”)). More at Angles (tribe) § Etymology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 18 | 4,525 |
| 1988 | 12 | 6,390 |
| 1989 | 15 | 5,636 |
| 1990 | 10 | 8,064 |
| 1991 | 10 | 8,157 |
| 1992 | 15 | 6,108 |
| 1993 | 10 | 8,251 |
| 1994 | 9 | 9,057 |
| 1995 | 8 | 9,867 |
| 1996 | 10 | 8,352 |
| 1997 | 7 | 11,204 |
| 1998 | 5 | 14,887 |
| 1999 | 5 | 15,148 |
| 2003 | 5 | 16,550 |
| 2014 | 5 | 17,355 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1931 | 6 | 3,515 |
| 1934 | 5 | 3,848 |
| 1935 | 6 | 3,375 |
| 1939 | 6 | 3,225 |
| 1942 | 7 | 3,023 |
| 1943 | 5 | 3,694 |
| 1944 | 5 | 3,582 |
| 1948 | 5 | 3,839 |
| 1951 | 5 | 3,873 |
| 1953 | 6 | 3,539 |
| 1954 | 5 | 3,991 |
| 1955 | 9 | 2,833 |
| 1958 | 5 | 4,126 |
| 1959 | 5 | 4,171 |
| 1992 | 5 | 8,839 |

## In other languages

- Finnish: englanti
- Indonesian: inggristis
- Armenian: Ինգլիշ
- Russian: И́нглиш

## People named English

- English Gardner, American sprinter

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.