Ermine
Feminine · “the ermine”
Ermine is given to both — 522 girls and 67 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Ermine is the name of the stoat in its winter coat, white from nose to tail except for a black tip, and of the heraldic fur made from it. Leonardo da Vinci painted one in the arms of Cecilia Gallerani, in the portrait known as Lady with an Ermine.
How old is the name Ermine?
Ermine first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Ermine alive today was born around 1918, making them about 107 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Ermine are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Ermine most popular?
Ermine peaked in 1883, reaching #817 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From mus Armenius (medieval Latin, as usually traced) to Ermine
The story of Ermine
The word came into English from Old French hermine, which is usually traced to medieval Latin mus Armenius, 'Armenian mouse'; a rival account links it to an old Germanic word for a weasel. Heraldry turned the fur into a pattern of black tail-tips on white. Around 1490 Leonardo painted Cecilia Gallerani holding an ermine, a pun on her surname, since the Greek for weasel is galê, and a nod to Ludovico Sforza, who belonged to the Order of the Ermine. As a given name, Ermine appears in the American record for girls and, less often, for boys.
Meaningscholars disagree
the ermine, the stoat in its winter white
As an English word, ermine is the stoat's white winter coat and the fur taken from it. As a given name it also resembles Hermine, the German and French feminine of Hermann, and the record does not say which a given family meant.
How the name formed
- mus Armeniusmedieval Latin, as usually traced
- hermineOld French
- ermineEnglish
- Ermine
Related forms: Hermine
Pronouncing Ermine
UR-min
Said like the word, with the stress on the first syllable.
Nicknames for Ermine
Limited
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
- 1883
- Most girls named
- 191722 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #817reached in 1883
- Change vs 1947
- −22.2%7 in 1959, from 9
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.
Ermine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hermine in German — related form
Ermines among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Ermine are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Ermine 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
- A real English word with a long history in heraldry and painting.
- Short, and easy to spell once seen.
- Minnie is a ready short form.
- Ermine is a fur, and some readers will think first of the animal or of fur trimming.
- Most bearers are girls; a boy named Ermine would share it mostly with women, though the word itself belongs to neither sex.
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Ermine
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Ermines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Ermine are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Ermine in 2025?
- Ermine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Ermine with classmates?
- Ermine 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 Ermine? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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