Girls' name · peaked in 1928

Ernestine name popularity since 1925

32,165 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Ernestine. Half of them were born in 1943 or earlier, so the typical Ernestine is about 83 years old in 2026. Ernestine peaked in 1928 as the #193 name for girls, and fewer than 5 girls got it in 2025.

US babies since 1925: 32,165; Named Ernestine, 1925–2025
Peak year: 1928; #193 for girls that year
Typical age: About 83; Median birth year 1943
In 2025: Unranked; Fewer than 5 girls named Ernestine in 2025
Girls / boys: 99.6% girls; 32,023 girls · 142 boys
Most popular in: Mississippi; 4.82× its national share

Peak year is the year Ernestine made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.

Ernestine births per year, 1925–2025

1928 was the biggest year for Ernestine both by count and as a share of all babies.

Steepest fall: Between 1952 and 1957, Ernestine's share of baby girls fell by 41%, from 1 in 2,650 to 1 in 4,510.

Shaded on the chart. This compares Ernestine's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Ernestine.

Decade by decade

Babies named Ernestine in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).

Decade	Girls	Boys	Rank
1925–29	5,055	36	–
1930s	8,516	78	#195
1940s	7,970	12	#239
1950s	5,653	16	#393
1960s	2,913	0	#599
1970s	999	0	#1,354
1980s	552	0	#2,085
1990s	237	0	#5,764
2000s	54	0	#13,451
2010s	62	0	#17,276
2020–25	12	0	Under 5

Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.

Generation fingerprint

47.9% of babies named Ernestine from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:

Where Ernestine is most popular

The index compares Ernestine'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 Ernestine.

State	Index	Babies
Mississippi	4.82×	1,744
South Carolina	4.23×	1,772
Arkansas	3.24×	994
New Mexico	3.17×	524
Alabama	2.88×	1,523

Names with a similar story

Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Ernestine's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Ernestine.

Names from the same era

Other common names that peaked within two years of Ernestine (1928).

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