Given name & surname
Ernestine
“one who is determined; serious”·“one who is sincere and determined; serious”
In English use, Ernestine has a related form in Ernestina. In German use, Ernestina carries the interpretation “one who is determined; serious.” In English use, Ernestine is a feminine form of Ernest. One English interpretation is “one who is sincere and determined; serious.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Ernestine has a related form in Ernestina. In German use, Ernestina carries the interpretation “one who is determined; serious.” In English use, Ernestine is a feminine form of Ernest. One English interpretation is “one who is sincere and determined; serious.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In English use, Ernestine is a feminine form of Ernest. Ernest has been associated with Germanic and Old High German naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From French Ernestine, built from English Ernest + -ine.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ernestine through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 44,191
- 159 boys · 44,032 girls
- Most popular year
- 1928
- 1,067 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −82%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 2021. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 1,057 in 1928. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 16,426 as a first name in 2020; 107 as a surname in 2010.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ernestine’s family of names
In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Ernestine has a short form in Erna. Ernestine is a feminine form of Ernest. In English usage, Ernestine has a related form in Ernestina.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ernestine has relatives in 8 languages.
5 related names in 8 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 6
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ernestine
- Jane RussellAmerican actress (1921–2011)
- Ernestine RoseAmerican feminist activist (1810–1892)
- Ernestine AndersonAmerican jazz and blues singer (1928–2016)
- Ernestine Schumann-HeinkAustrian-American singer (1861–1936)
- Ernestine Albertine of Saxe-Weimarfirst wife and consort of Philip II, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1722-1769)
- Ernestine von FürthAustrian suffragist (1877–1946)
- Ernestine RussellCanadian gymnast and coach1938–2026
- Ernestine Yolande de Ligne d'Amblise(1594-1668)
- Ernestine LebrunFrench swimmer1906–2005
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
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