How rare is the name Ernie?

12,719 people in the United States have the first name Ernie, about 1 in 23,746. It ranks #2,109 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

ERNIE

#2,109

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
12,719
About
1 in 23,746
This common or more
78.5%
Who bears it

Of the 12,719 people named Ernie, 51.6% reported their origin as White, 30.7% as Hispanic or Latino and 8% as Black. 97.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Ernie peaked in 1959, when 455 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1959
Births that year
455
In 2025*
18 ▼96%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 17,234 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Ernie by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #800. The largest share of babies named Ernie, 39.8%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1,45575
1890s#1,616100
1900s#1,406176
1910s#1,378638
1920s#1,2841,078
1930s#9791,519
1940s#8002,933
1950s#8733,449
1960s#9803,130
1970s#1,5191,541
1980s#2,1411,033
1990s#3,334719
2000s#5,526477
2010s#9,093249
2020s#10,491117
Before 19011.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–279.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4518.8%
Baby boom 1946–6439.8%
Generation X 1965–8016.5%
Millennials 1981–968.4%
Generation Z 1997–124.3%
2013 and later1.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Ernie is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Ernie has been most common in New Mexico (5.3×), Kentucky (3.4×), and Arizona (3.1×), and least common in Minnesota (0.19×).

11,858 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Ernie

1 other first name also has 12,719 people.

#2,109 Tamra · 12,719

Either side of Ernie

#2,107 Brynlee · 12,747#2,108 Brandie · 12,730#2,109 Tamra · 12,719#2,111 Nicola · 12,714

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Ernie, most common first.

#46,195 Erni · 145#46,524 Ermie · 143

Compare