How Many People Are Named Ernesto?
An estimated 38,734 people in the United States have the first name Ernesto. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 37 years old, and Ernesto peaked in popularity in 2003 with 854 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Ernesto as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Ernesto paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Ernesto is overwhelmingly male, 121 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
38,734
About 1 in 8,849 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.7% confidence
Average Age
37
years old
Peak Year
2003
854 births
Total Registered
44,538
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Ernesto
Ernesto is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 44,538 total births registered, 99.7% were male.
Ernesto as a male name
Ranked #896 in 2024
262 male births in 2024
Peak: 2003 (854 births)
Ernesto as a female name
Ranked #18,010 in 2006
5 female births in 2006
Peak: 1985 (10 births)
Ernesto: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Ernesto span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1990s, when 8,140 babies were registered. Ernesto has declined significantly from its peak in the 1990s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Ernesto by Decade
How has Ernesto tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 6 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 59 | 59 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 451 | 451 | 0 | |
| 1920s | 1,212 | 1,212 | 0 | |
| 1930s | 1,326 | 1,326 | 0 | |
| 1940s | 1,794 | 1,794 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 2,860 | 2,860 | 0 | |
| 1960s | 3,615 | 3,604 | 11 | |
| 1970s | 5,114 | 5,079 | 35 | |
| 1980s | 6,696 | 6,655 | 41 | |
| 1990s | 8,140 | 8,111 | 29 | |
| 2000s | 7,806 | 7,801 | 5 | |
| 2010s | 4,092 | 4,092 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 1,362 | 1,362 | 0 | |
Ernesto by State
Birth registrations for Ernesto span all 36 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Arizona. The lowest are in Louisiana, District of Columbia, Kentucky. On average, about 1,141 Ernestos were registered per state.
Ernesto + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Ernesto as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Ernesto
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
Ernesto: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ernesto?
We estimate approximately 38,734 people named Ernesto are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 8,849 Americans share this first name.
Is Ernesto a common name?
Ernesto is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 44,538 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Ernesto most popular?
Ernesto reached peak popularity in 2003, when 854 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Ernesto is approximately 37 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Ernesto a male name?
Ernesto is predominantly male. 99.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Ernesto Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Ernesto Smith, Ernesto Johnson, Ernesto Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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