Recorded 1889–2025 · United States
Ernesto was most popular in 2003, when 854 American babies were given the name — ranking #694 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,811, with 272 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 44,816 people named Ernesto.
Ernesto first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1889, which makes it about 136 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 125 of the 137 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 44,816 American births named Ernesto between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 38,251 are estimated to be alive today.
272 American babies were named Ernesto in 2025, ranking #1,811 that year.
Ernesto is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 269 births a year, against 444 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -39% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Ernesto is a boy’s name — 0.3% of the 44,816 Americans given it were girls and 99.7% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 38,251 Americans named Ernesto are alive today — 85% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 34 years old, and half are between 22 and 49.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Ernesto on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org