Masculine dossier · first seen 1880
Earnest
Endangered
Down 97.8% from peak
Peak era
1926
Peak births
1,149
Current vitality
Rare
Peak generation
Greatest Generation
Quick answers about Earnest
How many people are named Earnest?
An estimated 18,189 living Americans are named Earnest.
How rare is Earnest?
Earnest is very rare among babies today, with 25 boys receiving the name in 2025, down 97.8% from its 1926 peak.
How old is the typical Earnest?
The median age of a living American named Earnest is approximately 64 years, with most bearers falling between 49 and 74 years old.
Is Earnest still popular?
No. Earnest is endangered as a baby name, down 97.8% from its 1926 peak with 25 births in 2025.
Where is Earnest most common?
Earnest has its strongest geographic signal in Mississippi, where it appears 10.6× more often than the national baseline.
1880Peak 19262025
Peak year
1926
Decline from peak
97.8%
2025
25
All-time
58,389
Where it lives now
Earnest is most concentrated in Mississippi — about 10.6× the national rate in the 1990s.
States where Earnest is given more often than the national average — its present-day heartland.