How common is the surname Ernst?

18,361 people in the United States had the surname Ernst in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,815 Americans. It ranked 1,969th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Ernst?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Ernst identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Ernst?

Joni Ernst, American politician (born 1970), followed by Rudolf Ernst.

Where is the surname Ernst most common?

Wikidata records people named Ernst in the United States, Austria–Hungary and Austria.

Is the surname Ernst getting more or less common?

Less common. 18,521 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 18,361 in 2010, down 0.9%.

Is Ernst also a first name?

Yes. Ernst 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 Ernst

A German surname, carried by 18,361 people in the United States.

1 syllable 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). Ernst is more common than 98.8% of them.

Origin

German origin

Borrowed from German Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz. Doublet of earnest.

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 18,361 people named Ernst in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 16,815 Americans. That is down 0.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 18,521.

#1,969

rank among US surnames

18,361

people in 2010

6.2

per 100,000 Americans

-0.9%

change since 2000 (was #1,775)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,960	Woody	18,434	16,749
#1,961	Luke	18,425	16,757
#1,962	McHugh	18,422	16,760
#1,963	Negron	18,413	16,768
#1,964	Cope	18,410	16,771
#1,965	Triplett	18,408	16,772
#1,966	Hathaway	18,401	16,779

Who is named Ernst

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

95% of people named Ernst identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.4% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Ernsts

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Joni Ernst
American politician (born 1970)
Rudolf Ernst
Austro-French painter (1854-1932)
Richard P. Ernst
American politician (1858–1934)
Johanna Ernst
Austrian rock climber, born 1992
Christine Ernst
American rower, born 1950

Notable Ernsts come mostly from the United States (3), Austria–Hungary (1) and Austria (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Ernst

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

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Ernst come from?: Borrowed from German Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz. Doublet of earnest.
How common is the surname Ernst?: 18,361 people in the United States had the surname Ernst in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,815 Americans. It ranked 1,969th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Ernst?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Ernst identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Ernst?: Joni Ernst, American politician (born 1970), followed by Rudolf Ernst.
Where is the surname Ernst most common?: Wikidata records people named Ernst in the United States, Austria–Hungary and Austria.
Is the surname Ernst getting more or less common?: Less common. 18,521 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 18,361 in 2010, down 0.9%.
Is Ernst also a first name?: Yes. Ernst 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.