How Many People Are Named Ernie?
An estimated 11,159 people in the United States have the first name Ernie. It is predominantly male (95.9%). The average bearer is 60 years old, and Ernie peaked in popularity in 1959 with 455 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Ernie 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 Ernie paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Ernie is overwhelmingly male, 714 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
11,159
About 1 in 30,716 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
95.9% confidence
Average Age
60
years old
Peak Year
1959
455 births
Total Registered
17,215
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Ernie
Ernie is predominantly male (95.9%), though 714 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Ernie as a male name
Ranked #6,247 in 2024
14 male births in 2024
Peak: 1959 (450 births)
Ernie as a female name
Ranked #6,252 in 1967
6 female births in 1967
Peak: 1919 (25 births)
Ernie: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Ernie span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 3,449 babies were registered. Ernie has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Ernie by Decade
How has Ernie 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.
Ernie by State
Birth registrations for Ernie span all 38 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Ohio. The lowest are in Montana, Massachusetts, Hawaii. On average, about 312 Ernies were registered per state.
Ernie + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Ernie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Ernie
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
Ernie: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ernie?
We estimate approximately 11,159 people named Ernie 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 30,716 Americans share this first name.
Is Ernie a common name?
Ernie is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 97.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 17,215 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Ernie most popular?
Ernie reached peak popularity in 1959, when 455 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Ernie is approximately 60 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Ernie a male name?
Ernie is predominantly male. 95.9% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Ernie Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Ernie Smith, Ernie Johnson, Ernie 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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