Ernie
Ernie was given to 18 boys in 2025, #5,268 among boys’ names; 17,234 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 10,200 Americans named Ernie and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (59% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 47 and 71.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ernie by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ernie mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ernie is “a diminutive of the male given name Ernest.”
From Ernest + -ie.
/ˈɝni/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ernie?
#5,268 among boys’ names, 2025
Ernie fell from #4,330 in 2015 to #5,268 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 12.0 to 10.5 per million.
455 babies in 1959, the peak
Ernie peaked in 1959, when 455 babies were given it (450 boys, #370 among boys’ names). The 18 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18 | #5,268 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 14 | #6,275 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 20 | #4,932 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 21 | #4,750 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 19 | #4,976 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 25 | #4,047 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 18 | #5,216 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 23 | #4,397 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 20 | #4,792 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 28 | #3,804 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (144)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 23 | #4,330 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 25 | #4,045 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 19 | #4,854 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 26 | #3,932 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 40 | #2,917 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 27 | #3,843 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 24 | #4,195 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 37 | #3,125 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 48 | #2,575 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 46 | #2,595 | 0.02 |
| 2005 | 51 | #2,303 | 0.03 |
| 2004 | 51 | #2,252 | 0.03 |
| 2003 | 64 | #1,851 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 49 | #2,161 | 0.03 |
| 2001 | 42 | #2,352 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 65 | #1,725 | 0.03 |
| 1999 | 54 | #1,831 | 0.03 |
| 1998 | 58 | #1,744 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 62 | #1,628 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 71 | #1,445 | 0.04 |
| 1995 | 60 | #1,561 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 57 | #1,612 | 0.03 |
| 1993 | 86 | #1,215 | 0.04 |
| 1992 | 90 | #1,165 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 81 | #1,233 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 100 | #1,058 | 0.05 |
| 1989 | 77 | #1,217 | 0.04 |
| 1988 | 95 | #995 | 0.05 |
| 1987 | 90 | #1,001 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 100 | #914 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 96 | #928 | 0.05 |
| 1984 | 103 | #866 | 0.06 |
| 1983 | 93 | #918 | 0.05 |
| 1982 | 124 | #796 | 0.07 |
| 1981 | 131 | #762 | 0.07 |
| 1980 | 124 | #787 | 0.07 |
| 1979 | 122 | #783 | 0.07 |
| 1978 | 131 | #739 | 0.08 |
| 1977 | 140 | #721 | 0.09 |
| 1976 | 150 | #672 | 0.10 |
| 1975 | 130 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1974 | 139 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1973 | 156 | #636 | 0.10 |
| 1972 | 147 | #663 | 0.09 |
| 1971 | 214 | #551 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 212 | #556 | 0.11 |
| 1969 | 222 | #527 | 0.12 |
| 1968 | 185 | #558 | 0.11 |
| 1967 | 230 | #494 | 0.13 |
| 1966 | 273 | #462 | 0.15 |
| 1965 | 265 | #478 | 0.14 |
| 1964 | 312 | #452 | 0.16 |
| 1963 | 378 | #413 | 0.19 |
| 1962 | 387 | #407 | 0.19 |
| 1961 | 429 | #381 | 0.20 |
| 1960 | 435 | #378 | 0.20 |
| 1959 | 450 | #370 | 0.21 |
| 1958 | 442 | #368 | 0.21 |
| 1957 | 420 | #377 | 0.19 |
| 1956 | 325 | #417 | 0.15 |
| 1955 | 311 | #415 | 0.15 |
| 1954 | 272 | #439 | 0.13 |
| 1953 | 281 | #417 | 0.14 |
| 1952 | 272 | #418 | 0.14 |
| 1951 | 302 | #387 | 0.16 |
| 1950 | 305 | #382 | 0.17 |
| 1949 | 326 | #373 | 0.18 |
| 1948 | 348 | #362 | 0.20 |
| 1947 | 399 | #341 | 0.22 |
| 1946 | 357 | #342 | 0.22 |
| 1945 | 381 | #305 | 0.28 |
| 1944 | 277 | #359 | 0.20 |
| 1943 | 225 | #410 | 0.16 |
| 1942 | 192 | #447 | 0.14 |
| 1941 | 161 | #468 | 0.13 |
| 1940 | 172 | #442 | 0.15 |
| 1939 | 172 | #433 | 0.16 |
| 1938 | 175 | #434 | 0.16 |
| 1937 | 156 | #448 | 0.15 |
| 1936 | 141 | #474 | 0.14 |
| 1935 | 161 | #449 | 0.15 |
| 1934 | 130 | #509 | 0.13 |
| 1933 | 123 | #508 | 0.12 |
| 1932 | 121 | #532 | 0.12 |
| 1931 | 85 | #644 | 0.08 |
| 1930 | 104 | #594 | 0.09 |
| 1929 | 116 | #547 | 0.11 |
| 1928 | 99 | #613 | 0.09 |
| 1927 | 98 | #640 | 0.09 |
| 1926 | 110 | #601 | 0.10 |
| 1925 | 86 | #699 | 0.08 |
| 1924 | 87 | #707 | 0.08 |
| 1923 | 96 | #655 | 0.09 |
| 1922 | 64 | #857 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 94 | #669 | 0.09 |
| 1920 | 77 | #749 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 73 | #755 | 0.07 |
| 1918 | 61 | #846 | 0.06 |
| 1917 | 74 | #707 | 0.08 |
| 1916 | 55 | #845 | 0.06 |
| 1915 | 69 | #708 | 0.08 |
| 1914 | 36 | #914 | 0.05 |
| 1913 | 49 | #639 | 0.10 |
| 1912 | 20 | #1,040 | 0.05 |
| 1911 | 20 | #716 | 0.09 |
| 1910 | 19 | #685 | 0.10 |
| 1909 | 19 | #624 | 0.12 |
| 1908 | 15 | #693 | 0.10 |
| 1907 | 12 | #784 | 0.08 |
| 1906 | 11 | #776 | 0.08 |
| 1905 | 19 | #535 | 0.14 |
| 1904 | 13 | #657 | 0.10 |
| 1903 | 7 | #941 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 8 | #879 | 0.07 |
| 1901 | 12 | #614 | 0.11 |
| 1900 | 12 | #755 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 10 | #709 | 0.08 |
| 1897 | 7 | #877 | 0.06 |
| 1896 | 14 | #564 | 0.12 |
| 1895 | 7 | #915 | 0.06 |
| 1894 | 11 | #643 | 0.10 |
| 1893 | 11 | #625 | 0.10 |
| 1892 | 6 | #1,000 | 0.05 |
| 1891 | 6 | #882 | 0.06 |
| 1890 | 9 | #687 | 0.08 |
| 1889 | 7 | #826 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 7 | #850 | 0.06 |
| 1887 | 10 | #602 | 0.10 |
| 1886 | 5 | #1,015 | 0.05 |
| 1885 | 6 | #867 | 0.06 |
| 1884 | 5 | #1,017 | 0.04 |
| 1883 | 12 | #537 | 0.11 |
| 1882 | 12 | #552 | 0.11 |
| 1880 | 6 | #852 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Ernie a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 17,234 Americans recorded as Ernie, 4% are girls and 96% boys. In 2025 it went to 18 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Ernie: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ernie, and how old are they?
10,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 59% of the 17,234 Americans ever recorded as Ernie. The median Ernie alive today is 63 years old; half are between 47 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 12,719 people named Ernie (280 women and girls, 12,439 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 11,416 born in the U.S. The Census count is 11% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 789 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,580 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,490 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,380 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 731 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 271 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Ernie born?
The states with the most babies named Ernie are California, Texas and Ohio, with 44% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 3,584 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Texas | 880 | #2,689 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 736 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Kentucky | 707 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Illinois | 556 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| New York | 477 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Arizona | 452 | not ranked | 3.0× |
| Michigan | 421 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| New Mexico | 342 | not ranked | 3.2× |
| Indiana | 315 | not ranked | 0.7× |
Where Ernie is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ernie is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 3.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Ernie with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 18,740 babies since 1880, Ernie is the most given (92% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Ernie
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Ernie and names like it
- Compare Ernie and EarnieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sErnie peaked in 1959.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ernie since 1910.
- The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Ernie.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Ernie alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with EMost given first.