How common is the surname Ernest?

4,745 people in the United States had the surname Ernest in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 65,068 Americans. It ranked 7,053rd of 162,253 surnames.

How do you pronounce Ernest?

Ernest is /ˈɜː(ɹ)nɪst/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Ernest getting more or less common?

More common. 4,694 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,745 in 2010, up 1.1%.

Is Ernest also a first name?

Yes. Ernest is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Ernest

A surname, carried by 4,745 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɜː(ɹ)nɪst/ 2 syllables Soundex E652 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Ernest is more common than 95.7% of them.

Origin

Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 4,745 people named Ernest in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 65,068 Americans. That is up 1.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,694.

#7,053

rank among US surnames

4,745

people in 2010

1.6

per 100,000 Americans

+1.1%

change since 2000 (was #6,640)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#7,048	Hooten	4,751	64,985
#7,050	Rinker	4,750	64,999
#7,052	Mapp	4,749	65,013
#7,053	Ernest	4,745	65,068

Who is named Ernest

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

77% of people named Ernest identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 77%
Black (not Hispanic) 16%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.2%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Ernest

Ernest has the Soundex code E652, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code E652.

Questions

Where does the surname Ernest come from?: Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.
How common is the surname Ernest?: 4,745 people in the United States had the surname Ernest in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 65,068 Americans. It ranked 7,053rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Ernest?: In the 2010 Census, 77% of people named Ernest identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
How do you pronounce Ernest?: Ernest is /ˈɜː(ɹ)nɪst/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Ernest getting more or less common?: More common. 4,694 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,745 in 2010, up 1.1%.
Is Ernest also a first name?: Yes. Ernest is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.