Erna
Feminine · “seriousness”
Erna is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 9,060 girls against 11 boys since 1880.
Erna is German seriousness and Norse briskness, arriving at the same four letters. The two are unrelated, and nineteenth-century American registers carry both without distinguishing them.
How old is the name Erna?
Erna was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Erna alive today was born around 1919, making them about 106 years old. About 1,400 people named Erna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Erna most popular?
Erna peaked in 1898, reaching #256 nationally. See the whole 1898 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ernst to Erna
The story of Erna
Ernst was a name of the German nobility, and German forms feminines freely: Ernestine, Ernesta, Erna. Separately, Erna is a genuine Old Norse name that stayed in Icelandic and Norwegian use. German and Scandinavian emigration both brought the name to America in the nineteenth century, where it appears in the registers in real numbers and peaked around 1912.
Meaningscholars disagree
seriousness; brisk
Read as a German feminine of Ernst, the meaning is ernst, 'seriousness' or 'earnestness in battle'. Read as the Old Norse Erna, it is a word meaning 'brisk' or 'capable', and it appears in Norse poetry as the name of a woman who founds a noble line. Both readings are real and the spelling does not choose.
How the name formed
- ernst
- Ernestine
- Erna
Related forms: Erna · Erna · Erna · Erna
Pronouncing Erna
UR-nuh
Two syllables, stress on the first. German and Icelandic give the first vowel a purer quality.
Nicknames for Erna
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 girls named
- 1916358 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #256reached in 1898
- Change vs 2016
- 0.0%6 in 2021, from 6
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.
Erna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Erna in German — same name
- Erna in Icelandic — same name
- Erna in Dutch — same name
- Erna in Norwegian — same name
Ernas among us
people named Erna 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
Erna has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Two genuinely deep traditions stand behind it, one German and one Norse.
- It is a living name in German, Dutch, Norwegian and Icelandic alike.
- Two firm syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- The two origins are unrelated, so the name cannot promise a single meaning.
- It is strongly period-coded to the early twentieth century in American records.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Erna to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Erna? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Erna
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Ernas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Erna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Erna in 2025?
- Erna is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Erna with classmates?
- Erna 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 Erna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Erna and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle