Edwin
Feminine · “Rich friend”
Edwin is given to boys far more often — 247,553 boys against 1,191 girls since 1880. See Edwin as a boy name
The best thing anybody ever said about this name was said to an Edwin, by one of his own advisers, when he was deciding whether to become a Christian. A man's life, the adviser said, is like a sparrow flying through a lighted hall in winter: in at one door, across the warmth, out at the other, and nobody knows where it came from or where it goes.
How old is the name Edwin?
Edwin first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Edwin alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 700 people named Edwin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Edwin most popular?
Edwin peaked in 1899, reaching #1278 nationally. See the whole 1899 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eadwine to Edwin
The story of Edwin
Edwin of Northumbria took two years over the decision, and the account written a century later gives the council he called: the chief priest of the old religion says that he has served the gods more diligently than anybody and got less from them than others have, which is either the most cynical or the most honest remark in early English history, and then rides out and throws a spear into his own temple. The sparrow speech belongs to a different councillor. Whatever the reality behind it, the passage is the earliest sustained piece of English prose argument that survives, and it is about the shortness of a life and what might lie on either side of it.
Meaning
Rich friend
Old English ead, wealth or prosperity, and wine, a friend, so the name promises a well-off friend or a friend of the family's fortune. Both elements are among the most productive in Anglo-Saxon naming and both are transparent, which is unusual for a name this old.
How the name formed
- Eadwine
- Edwin
Related forms: Edwin · Edwin · Edwin
Pronouncing Edwin
ED-win
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Both syllables keep a full vowel, which is unusual for a two-syllable English name and gives it a slightly formal weight.
Nicknames for Edwin
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
- 1894
- Most girls named
- 192430 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1278reached in 1899
- Change vs 2005
- 0.0%5 in 2008, from 5
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.
Edwin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Edwin in Spanish — same name
- Edwin in German — same name
- Edwin in Dutch — same name
Edwins among us
people named Edwin 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
Edwin 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
- It has been in use for fourteen hundred years and is spelled the same way in three other languages.
- Ed, Eddie and Win are three short forms in three quite different registers.
- Both halves have transparent meanings that can be given to a child at once.
- The record carries it for girls in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- It reads as an older man's name to many Americans, though that has begun to shift.
- Edwin is also very common in Spanish-speaking countries, which surprises English speakers.
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What they receive
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Edwin
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Edwins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Edwin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Edwin in 2025?
- Edwin is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Edwin with classmates?
- Edwin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Elizabeth#17 · Emily#34 · Emma#3 · Evelyn#8 · Ella#29 · Eleanor#12 · Erin#833 · Edna#2458
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Edwin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Edwin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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