Edith
Masculine · “Prosperous in war”
Edith is given to girls far more often — 270,880 girls against 825 boys since 1880. See Edith as a girl name
Edith joins prosperity to war, which was an ordinary and complimentary pairing in Old English, and the woman who made the name famous in the last century said something the night before she was shot that is still quoted against the thing she died for.
How old is the name Edith?
Edith was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Edith alive today was born around 1925, making them about 100 years old. About 200 people named Edith are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Edith most popular?
Edith peaked in 1881, reaching #595 nationally. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eadgyth to Edith
The story of Edith
She was an English nurse running a hospital in occupied Brussels, and she treated wounded men from both sides and helped Allied soldiers reach the border. She was arrested, tried and sentenced, and to the chaplain the night before her execution she said that patriotism was not enough, and that she must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone. The execution caused international outrage and was used heavily as propaganda — which is precisely the use her sentence refuses. A great many children were named after her in the years that followed, and the record shows it.
Meaning
Prosperous in war
The Old English elements are ead, meaning wealth or fortune, and gyth, meaning strife or war. The first element also stands in Edward and Edmund; the pairing of good fortune with battle was standard and meant something like blessed in conflict.
How the name formed
- Eadgyth
- Edith
Related forms: Edith · Edith · Editta
Pronouncing Edith
EE-dith
Two syllables, stress at the front. The first vowel is long.
Nicknames for Edith
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 192026 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #595reached in 1881
- Change vs 1992
- −12.5%7 in 1995, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Edith in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Edith in German — same name
- Edith in French — same name
- Editta in Italian — related form
Ediths among us
people named Edith are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Edith sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and takes apart cleanly into two words.
- It is read correctly on sight everywhere in Europe.
- It is genuinely old, with a continuous record behind it.
- It carries a strong period association that is only now lifting.
- Edythe and Edyth are both in the record nearby.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though nearly every bearer in the record is a girl.
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What they receive
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Edith
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Ediths are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Edith are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Edith in 2025?
- Edith is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Edith with classmates?
- Edith will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Edward#224 · Eric#273 · Ethan#24 · Eugene#943 · Elijah#7 · Ernest#1038 · Earl#2230 · Evan#153
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Edith? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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