Edythe
A feminine name of Old English origin meaning "prosperous in war".
Name Census estimates that about 1,765 living Americans carry the first name Edythe. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Edythe today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Edythe births was 1918 (582 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Edythe. 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 Edythe with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Edythe is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Edythes were born before 1966.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 194,195 Americans
Peak year
1918
582 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,478
Tracked since 1880
Census
Edythe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,648 people with the first name Edythe, which placed it at #6,136 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
#6,136
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,648 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Edythe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Edythe is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Edythe 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 Edythe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.1% · 2,200
- Black or African American11.8% · 312
- Two or more races2.3% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 14
Popularity
Edythe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Edythe from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 4,055 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Edythe 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 Edythe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Edythes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Edythe, while Vermont, Mississippi, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 197 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Edythe
Edythe is a feminine given name of Old English origin, derived from the compound words "ead" meaning prosperity or fortune, and "gyth" meaning war or battle. It is a variation of the more common name Edith, which emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England.
The name Edythe gained popularity in the 7th century, particularly among the ruling class and nobility of Anglo-Saxon England. It was often bestowed upon daughters with the hope that they would lead prosperous and victorious lives.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Edythe can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book lists several landowners and tenants with the name Edythe, indicating its widespread use during the Norman Conquest.
In the 12th century, the nun and writer Edythe of Polesworth gained recognition for her religious works and contributions to the Gilbertine Order of monastics. Her writings shed light on the spiritual and intellectual pursuits of women during the Middle Ages.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Edythe. Edythe Rickert (1871-1938) was an American scholar and academic, renowned for her work on Chaucer and her contributions to medieval literature studies.
Edythe Chapman (1863-1948), an American educator and social reformer, was a pioneer in the field of home economics and advocated for the advancement of women's education and economic independence.
Edythe Klump (1893-1960), an American artist and sculptor, gained recognition for her bronze and marble sculptures, particularly her portrayal of Native American subjects.
Edythe Baker (1903-1991), an American playwright and screenwriter, wrote numerous plays and screenplays, including the Academy Award-nominated film "Keeper of the Flame" in 1942.
Edythe Perlick (1877-1953), an American businesswoman and entrepreneur, founded the successful Perlick Corporation, a manufacturer of commercial and residential refrigeration equipment.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals who have carried the name Edythe throughout history, each leaving a lasting impact in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of the name's legacy.
People
Edythe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Edythe 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
Edythe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Edythe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,765 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Edythe 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 194,195 US residents.
Is Edythe a common name?
We classify Edythe as "Rare". It ranks above 93.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,872 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Edythe most popular?
The single biggest year for Edythe was 1918, when 582 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Edythe 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 Edythe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,648 people with the name Edythe, or 0.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,136 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 Edythe 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 Edythe?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Edythe appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,649 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Edythe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Edythe is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Edythe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Edythe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.1% (2,200 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 Edythe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Edythe a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Edythe 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 Edythe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Edythe 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 Edythe 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 Americans are named Edythe?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Edythe at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.