The first name Ernst
A boy’s name.
1 syllable Male Also a surname
Popularity in the United States
Babies named Ernst at birth, 1880–2025
In 2021, 5 boys born in the United States were named Ernst, the 12,714th most popular boys’ name that year. It was used most in 1917, when 59 were.
2,383
babies named Ernst since 1880
#12,714
rank in 2021
1917
peak year
US Social Security Administration, from applications for a Social Security card. A name is only published for a year when at least five babies were given it, so quieter years show as zero.
Famous people named Ernst
386 on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Ernst MachAustrian physicist (1838–1916)
- Ernst RöhmGerman Nazi politician, military officer and leader of the Sturmabteilung (1887-1934)
- Ernst ThälmannGerman communist politician, leader of Communist Party of Germany (1886–1944)
- Ernst MayrGerman-American evolutionary biologist (1904-2005)
- Ernst KaltenbrunnerAustrian SS official, a major perpetrator of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal (190
- Ernst LubitschGerman-American actor and film director (1892–1947)
- Ernst Otto FischerGerman chemist (1918–2007)
- Karl Ernst von BaerBaltic German scientist (1792-1876)
- Ernst HappelAustrian footballer and manager (1925–1992)
- Ernst BarlachGerman expressionist sculptor, printmaker and writer (1870–1938)
- Ernst Moritz ArndtGerman historian, writer and politician (1769-1860)
- Ernst KummerGerman mathematician (1810–1893)
Questions
- Is Ernst a boy's or a girl's name?
- Mostly a boy's name: 100% of the 2,383 US babies named Ernst since 1880 were boys.
- When was Ernst most popular?
- 1917 in the United States, when 59 babies were named Ernst, its highest rank at 834th.
- Is Ernst also a surname?
- Yes. Ernst is used as a surname as well as a first name; its surname page has the origin and how many people carry it.