# Enid (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/enid/  
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 | girls |
| Origin | Welsh |
| Meaning | “spirit”, “life”, “purity”, “to breathe”, “blow”, “souls (?)”, “breath”, “wind” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈiːnɪd/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 9,240 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 6 / 9,234 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 507, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle Welsh eneit (“spirit, life; purity”), from Proto-Celtic *anatyom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe, blow”). Cognate with Gaulish anatia (“souls (?)”) attested on the Larzac tablet; see also the modern Welsh anadl (“breath, wind”), from Proto-Celtic *anatlā (“breath, breathing”).

## What it means

Enid is grouped under life and wind.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 15 | 7,918 |
| 2012 | 12 | 9,274 |
| 2013 | 12 | 9,201 |
| 2014 | 15 | 7,796 |
| 2015 | 20 | 6,302 |
| 2016 | 15 | 7,725 |
| 2017 | 29 | 4,728 |
| 2018 | 24 | 5,362 |
| 2019 | 40 | 3,739 |
| 2020 | 29 | 4,582 |
| 2021 | 34 | 4,187 |
| 2022 | 28 | 4,833 |
| 2023 | 66 | 2,653 |
| 2024 | 30 | 4,595 |
| 2025 | 30 | 4,586 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 6 | 3,864 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 11 | 2,275 |
| 2012 | 12 | 2,215 |
| 2013 | 12 | 2,176 |
| 2014 | 20 | 1,501 |
| 2015 | 36 | 984 |
| 2016 | 28 | 1,211 |
| 2017 | 34 | 1,043 |
| 2018 | 36 | 990 |
| 2019 | 43 | 854 |
| 2020 | 41 | 872 |
| 2021 | 37 | 936 |
| 2022 | 34 | 1,006 |
| 2023 | 37 | 941 |
| 2024 | 33 | 1,036 |
| 2025 | 47 | 778 |

## People named Enid

- Enid Blyton, English author (1897–1968)
- Enid Markey, American actress of stage, film and television (1894–1981)
- Enid Bagnold, English dramatist, playwright, memoirist (1889-1981)
- Enid Bennett, Australian actress (1893–1969)
- Enid Yandell, American sculptor
- Enid Lyons, Australian politician
- Enid Balint, English psychoanalyst and welfare worker
- Enid Stamp Taylor, British actress (1904-1946)
- Enid Bakewell, English cricketer (born 1940)
- Diana Rigg, English actress (1938–2020)
- Vivian Bonnell, actor and calypso singer (1924-2003)

## 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.