Edmund
Masculine · “Fortunate protection”
Edmund is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 52,083 boys against 60 girls since 1880.
Edmund is Old English through and through — two ordinary words of the Anglo-Saxon vocabulary joined into one name, and still spelled almost the way it was a thousand years ago. It survived the Norman Conquest, gave its name to the town of Bury St Edmunds, and passed to Shakespeare, to Dumas, to Narnia. In the mouth it is two firm syllables with nothing decorative about them: ED-mund.
How old is the name Edmund?
Edmund was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Edmund alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 21,000 people named Edmund are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Edmund most popular?
Edmund peaked in 1914, reaching #130 nationally. Today it ranks #1081, 951 places below that high. See the whole 1914 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ēadmund to Edmund
The story of Edmund
The name is Old English: Ēadmund, built from ēad ('riches, prosperity, good fortune') and mund ('protection, hand'). Its early fame came from Edmund the Martyr, a ninth-century king of East Anglia killed by a Danish army, whose shrine gave the town of Bury St Edmunds its name, and from two later English kings, Edmund I and Edmund Ironside. Unlike most Anglo-Saxon names, it was never displaced after 1066 — the cult of the martyr-king kept it in use, and it stayed in the English name stock without interruption. Later literature carried it further: the scheming brother in Shakespeare's King Lear, Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmund Pevensie in Narnia.
Meaning
Fortunate protection — from Old English ēad, 'riches, fortune,' and mund, 'protection'
Both elements were common Anglo-Saxon name-building blocks; ēad also opens Edward and Edwin, while mund closes Osmund and Raymond.
How the name formed
- Ēadmund
- Edmund
- Edmond
- Edmundo
Related forms: Edmond · Edmundo · Edmondo · Edmund · Éamon · Ödön
Pronouncing Edmund
ED-mund
Stress on the first syllable. The French Edmond ends in a nasal vowel (ed-MOHN); the Spanish and Italian forms add a final syllable, ed-MOON-doh.
Nicknames for Edmund
High
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
- 19241,115 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #130reached in 1914
- Change vs 2022
- +18.5%199 in 2025, from 168
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.
Edmund in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Edmond in French — same name
- Edmundo in Spanish — same name
- Edmondo in Italian — same name
- Edmund in Polish — same name
- Éamon in Irish — related form
- Ödön in Hungarian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Minnesota.
Edmunds among us
people named Edmund are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,583 born in 2025 was named Edmund
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Edmund is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Edmund is headed
Edmund should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Edmund beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Edmund in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An unbroken written record from Anglo-Saxon England to now — one of the very few Old English names that never fell out of use after the Norman Conquest.
- Everyone can spell it after hearing it once, and it needs no explanation in English.
- Comes with ready-made short forms at different levels of formality: Ed, Eddie, Ned.
- Has a recognizable counterpart in French, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Irish, so it travels without becoming unrecognizable.
- Edmund and Edmond are both real spellings, and Edward is far more common — expect a lifetime of gentle corrections, and of forms coming back with the wrong ending.
- In practice, a name this long usually gets shortened. If Ed or Eddie is not something you want to hear daily, that is worth thinking about now.
- Two of literature's better-known Edmunds are morally complicated: the illegitimate schemer in King Lear and the brother who betrays his siblings in Narnia. Neither association is heavy, and the ninth-century martyr-king balances the ledger.
- It is currently a name a child is unlikely to share with a classmate, which some families want and others don't — it does mean being explained, occasionally, as the old-fashioned choice.
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What they receive
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Edmund
Masculine · #1081 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Edmunds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 21,000 people named Edmund are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Edmund in 2025?
- Edmund ranks #1081 among US boy names in 2025, with 199 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Edmund?
- About 1 in every 8,583 US boys born in 2025 was named Edmund — 199 in all.
- Will my child share the name Edmund with classmates?
- Edmund will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Edmund
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Harley#1081 · Aizen#1081 · Randy#1084 · Menachem#1084 · Larry#1084 · Mariano#1084 · Lyam#1084 · Wren#1084
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Edmund? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Edmund and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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