Boys' name · peaked in 1909
Earnest name popularity since 1925
42,269 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Earnest (1.4% girls, 98.6% boys). Half of them were born in 1947 or earlier, so the typical Earnest is about 79 years old in 2026. Earnest peaked in 1909 as the #108 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 42,269
- Named Earnest, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1909
- #108 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,164 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.6% boys
- 592 girls · 41,677 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 8.31× its national share
Peak year is the year Earnest made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Earnest births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1926. Measured as a share of all babies, Earnest peaked earlier, in 1909.
- Steepest fall: Between 1986 and 1991, Earnest's share of baby boys fell by 41%, from 1 in 9,440 to 1 in 16,000.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Earnest's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Earnest.
Decade by decade
Babies named Earnest in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 68 | 5,353 | – |
| 1930s | 132 | 8,722 | #163 |
| 1940s | 140 | 8,706 | #188 |
| 1950s | 137 | 7,310 | #269 |
| 1960s | 77 | 4,515 | #366 |
| 1970s | 33 | 2,961 | #473 |
| 1980s | 5 | 1,995 | #659 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,053 | #1,209 |
| 2000s | 0 | 559 | #2,380 |
| 2010s | 0 | 364 | #3,386 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 139 | #4,164 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
38.1% of babies named Earnest from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Earnest is most popular
The index compares Earnest's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Earnest.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 8.31× | 3,929 |
| Alabama | 5.46× | 3,771 |
| Arkansas | 4.97× | 1,994 |
| Georgia | 3.36× | 3,627 |
| South Carolina | 3.29× | 1,798 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Earnest's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Earnest.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Earnest (1909).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data