Ernest is a boy's name of French origin meaning “serious.” In 2024 it was given to 200 boys in the United States.
Ernest belongs to the French and English & American tradition. Its meaning — “serious” — is the sense carried by its French roots, and it is the meaning we verified against published sources for this page.
In the United States, Ernest first appears in Social Security records in 1880. It climbed to its best-ever rank of #21 in 1885, and in 2024 200 babies received the name — 302,282 in total since 1880. Those are the official counts, not estimates.
More names from the French shelf:
Ernest means “serious” in its French roots. We check every meaning against published sources before it appears here.
Ernest is a boy name. In 2024, 200 babies received the name in the US.
Ernest comes from the French and English & American tradition.
Ernest first appears in US records in 1880. Its best-ever ranking was #21 in 1885, and 200 babies were given the name in 2024.
Ernest is pronounced /ˈɜː(ɹ)nɪst/ (IPA).
Meaning and origin for this page were checked against this source. US popularity figures are from the Social Security Administration's public baby-names data. If you spot an error, write to [email protected] — accuracy is the whole point of this site, and corrections are made fast.
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