Ernesta

Girls' name

Vigor, strife, through Ernest

Ernesta has been given to 244 babies in the U.S. since 1915. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1918, with 13 recorded.

Babies named Ernesta, 1981

1 in 577,000

Ernesta over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ernesta: meaning, origin, and history

Vigor, strife, through Ernest

Italian

What Ernesta means

Ernesta belongs to the name family reached through Ernesta → Ernest. Its meaning is “vigor, strife”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Italian Ernesta. By surface analysis, Ernest + -a.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Ernesta (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Ernesta is used in English. Its origins include Italian.

Ernesta comes through Italian Ernesta.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ernest.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 244 girls were recorded with the name Ernesta between 1915 and 1981. Its highest annual count was 13 in 1918; its best national rank was #2,434 in 1915.

How common is Ernesta?

Ernesta had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1981, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1981: 1 in 577,000; 6 of 3,459,130 births
Among girls only: 1 in 278,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 1981: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 399,616 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Ernesta sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1981 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 399,616 children born in 1981 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ernesta. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ernestas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ernesta was born before 1957 — so the typical Ernesta is around 68 today.

Median birth year: 1957; About 68 years old
Biggest decade: 1970s; 28.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 51.2%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 145; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1970s — 28.3% of all recorded uses (69).

Is Ernesta rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1918 (13)
Years since peak: 107; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 21.0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,434; 1915

Spellings of Ernesta

Ernesta is not the most common spelling — Ernestina is, with 29.3% against Ernesta's 1.3%.

Ernestina29.3%5,309
Arnetta18.0%3,248
Vernetta16.8%3,031
Bernetta15.5%2,797
Ernest10.3%1,855
Vernessa4.9%881
Earnest4.0%726
Ernesta1.3%244

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Ernesta around the world

Where Ernesta ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

France
1905–1965
#1,903
in 1965
South Australia
1954–1961
#665
in 1961

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Ernesta by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #2,434; 1915
Peak year: 1918; 13 that year
First recorded: 1915
Last recorded: 1981
All-time count: 244
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Ernesta

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Ernesto Lacosta Khrista Ernesha Ernisha Ernesteen Majesta Ernestene Karista Shresta Calysta Agusta Cresta Kallista Kirsta Clista Chrysta Kalysta Chasta Kalista Asta Trysta Kresta Argusta

Sibling names for Ernesta

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Winnifred Johnie Ray Lida Maybelle Floy Garnet Mathilda

For a brother

Granville Valentine Orval Buster Sol Omer Ferdinand Regis

Explore around Ernesta

Top names of 1918, Ernesta's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1915 Girls' names starting with E