Edwin
Masculine · “Rich friend”
Edwin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 247,553 boys against 1,191 girls since 1880. See Edwin as a girl 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 was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Edwin alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 133,000 people named Edwin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Edwin most popular?
Edwin peaked in 1919, reaching #52 nationally. Today it ranks #398, 346 places below that high. See the whole 1919 chart.
Edwin appears on these lists:
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19243,788 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #52reached in 1919
- Change vs 2022
- −13.0%798 in 2025, from 917
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
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Edwins among us
people named Edwin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,140 born in 2025 was named Edwin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Russell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Edwin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Russell climbed just as high around 1904, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Russell's path sketches the road Edwin is walking now.
Edwin has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Edwin is headed
Edwin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Edwin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Edwin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
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
Masculine · #398 in the U.S.
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 133,000 people named Edwin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Edwin in 2025?
- Edwin ranks #398 among US boy names in 2025, with 798 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Edwin?
- About 1 in every 2,140 US boys born in 2025 was named Edwin — 798 in all.
- Will my child share the name Edwin with classmates?
- Edwin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Edwin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marcelo#398 · Kian#400 · Kylo#400 · Jared#396 · Kashton#400 · Zander#396 · Raphael#394 · Raymond#394
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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