Edna
Old English feminine name potentially derived from "ead" meaning prosperity or fortune.
Name Census estimates that about 45,308 living Americans carry the first name Edna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Edna today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Edna births was 1918 (8,730 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Edna. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Edna with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Edna is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,042 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Edna is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ednas were born before 1966.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Edna have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
45K
~ 1 in 7,565 Americans
Peak year
1918
8,730 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1974 SSA rank
#2,054
Tracked since 1880
Census
Edna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 68,960 people with the first name Edna, which placed it at #739 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#739
National first-name rank
People counted
69K
68,960 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
22.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Edna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Edna is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and Hispanic (17.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Edna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Edna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.8% · 37,119
- Black or African American20.2% · 13,902
- Hispanic or Latino17.4% · 12,030
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 4,132
- Two or more races1.8% · 1,258
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 519
Gender
Gender distribution for Edna
Out of the 296,064 babies given the name Edna since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Edna as a male name
- Ranked #5,448 in 1974
- 5 male births in 1974
- Peak: 1927 (38 births)
Edna as a female name
- Ranked #2,054 in 2024
- 94 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (8,698 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Edna appears almost entirely female. Of the 68,962 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Edna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Edna from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 68,877 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Edna by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Edna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ednas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Edna, while Nevada, Alaska, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,443 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Edna
The name Edna is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "ead," which means "prosperous" or "rich." It is also related to the Old English name "Eadnu," which means "prosperous gift." The name first appeared in written records during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 7th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest known references to the name Edna can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of lands and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name Edna is listed among the landowners and tenants recorded in the book.
In the 12th century, the name Edna appeared in the Pipe Rolls, which were administrative records of the English Exchequer during the reign of King Henry II. This suggests that the name was in use among the English nobility and gentry at the time.
One notable historical figure named Edna was Edna the Fair, a 12th-century English noblewoman who was known for her beauty and her involvement in a romantic scandal. She was the mistress of King Henry II and bore him an illegitimate son named Geoffrey.
During the Middle Ages, the name Edna was also found in various literary works, including medieval ballads and romances. In the 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer mentioned a character named Edna in his famous work, "The Canterbury Tales."
In the 16th century, Edna became a more common name among English Puritans, who favored biblical and virtuous names. One notable Edna from this period was Edna Heron (c. 1509 - c. 1570), an English Protestant martyr who was burned at the stake for her religious beliefs during the Marian Persecutions.
Another famous Edna from history was Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), an American poet and playwright who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923. Her work was known for its lyrical quality and exploration of feminist themes.
Edna Ferber (1885 - 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright, best known for her novels "So Big," "Show Boat," and "Giant." She was a pioneer in portraying strong, independent women in her works.
Edna Conen (1899 - 1959) was a British writer and actress, famous for her short stories and plays. She was also known for her involvement in the feminist movement and her advocacy for women's rights.
People
Edna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Edna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Edna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Edna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 45,308 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Edna going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 7,565 US residents.
Is Edna a common name?
We classify Edna as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 296,064 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Edna most popular?
The single biggest year for Edna was 1918, when 8,730 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Edna is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Edna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 68,960 people with the name Edna, or 22.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #739 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Edna in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Edna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Edna appears almost entirely female. Of the 68,962 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Edna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Edna is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and Hispanic (17.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Edna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Edna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.8% (37,119 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Edna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Edna a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Edna in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Edna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Edna in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Edna can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Edna?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.