Given name & surname
Ethan
“firmness”·“long-lived”
Ethan is a Hebrew biblical name with a meaning associated with firmness and endurance.
Original Hebrewאיתן
Meaning & origin
What it means
Traditional Hebrew interpretations include “firmness” and “long-lived,” both suggesting endurance.
Where it comes from
Ethan has Hebrew roots and occurs in the biblical tradition as well as later English-language use.
How it developed
The name’s meaning belongs to its Hebrew background. The modern Hebrew forms Eitan and Etan reflect the same name in different spellings.
The story
The biblical Ethan the Ezrahite is described as a wise man. In American history, Ethan Allen, a leader of the Green Mountain Boys during the Revolution, gave the name another widely known bearer.
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Ethan appears in 1 Kings 4:31, 1 Chronicles 2:6.
- 1 Kings 4:31
- 1 Chronicles 2:6
From biblical name research
Ethan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 488,144
- 487,389 boys · 755 girls
- Most popular year
- 2004
- 22,336 babies
- 2025
- 7,859
- #24 for boys · #12,303 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −31%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7,852 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 24 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 30.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 22,210 in 2004. It also appeared in 7 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (1,236). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 403,009 as a first name in 2020; 185 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ethan’s family of names
Ethan has a related form in Ethen. Ethan has a related form in Eitan. Ethan has a related form in Ethyn.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 17
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 5
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Ethan
- Ethan HawkeAmerican actor and writer (born 1970)
- Ethan AmpaduWelsh association football playerborn 2000
- Ethan SupleeAmerican actorborn 1976
- Ethan NwaneriEnglish association football player (born 2007)
- Ethan MbappéFrench association football playerborn 2006
- Ethan KatzbergCanadian hammer thrower (born 2002)
- Ethan AllenAmerican farmer, military officer and politician (1738–1789)
- Ethan HorvathAmerican soccer playerborn 1995
- Ethan PhillipsAmerican actorborn 1955
Characters named Ethan: Ethan Hunt (fictional character), Ethan Winters (Resident Evil), Ethan Rom (the American TV show Lost), Supreme (Fictional superhero created by Rob Liefeld).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ethan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Isaac
“full of laughter”
>99% boys
Emmanuel
“God is with us”
>99% boys
Eli
“one who has ascended; my God on high”
99% boys · 1% girls
Isaiah
“God is salvation” · “God is my salvation”
>99% boys
Jesus
“God is my salvation”
>99% boys
Caleb
“dog” · “resembling a dog”
>99% boys
Uriel
“the angel of light”
98% boys · 2% girls
Elnathan
“God has given”
>99% boys