Enda
A masculine Irish form of the name Edna meaning "soul, life".
Name Census estimates that about 87 living Americans carry the first name Enda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Enda today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Enda births was 1922 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Enda. 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 Enda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Enda is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Endas were born before 1968.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Enda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
87
~ 1 in 3,939,705 Americans
Peak year
1922
13 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1973 SSA rank
#7,704
Tracked since 1904
Census
Enda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 454 people with the first name Enda, which placed it at #22,080 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
#22,080
National first-name rank
People counted
454
454 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Enda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Enda is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Enda 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 Enda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.5% · 293
- Black or African American19.8% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 25
- Two or more races1.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Enda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Enda from the 1900s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 59 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
Enda 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 Enda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Enda
The name Enda has its origins in the Irish language, deriving from the words 'enne' meaning 'bird' and 'dá' meaning 'fire' or 'bright'. It is believed to have first emerged as a personal name in the early medieval period in Ireland, around the 5th or 6th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Enda comes from the life of Saint Enda, an Irish monk and founder of the monastic school of Aran, who lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He established a renowned monastery on the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland, which became an important center of learning and spirituality.
In the 7th century, another notable figure named Enda appears in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle of medieval Irish history. This Enda is recorded as the son of Conall Cernach, a legendary warrior in Irish mythology.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Enda remained popular among the Irish, particularly in monastic and ecclesiastical circles. It was borne by several abbots and bishops, such as Enda of Ardbraccan, who lived in the 8th century and was the abbot of the monastery at Ardbraccan in County Meath, Ireland.
In more recent times, one of the most famous bearers of the name Enda was Enda Kenny, an Irish politician who served as the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland from 2011 to 2017. He was born in 1951 and played a significant role in Irish politics for several decades.
Another notable Enda was Enda McDonagh, an Irish priest, theologian, and philosopher, who lived from 1923 to 2020. He was a prominent figure in the Catholic Church and a advocate for social justice and human rights.
Enda Leahy, born in 1959, is an Irish actor and playwright, best known for his work in theatre and television productions. He has received critical acclaim for his performances in plays by Irish writers such as Brian Friel and Martin McDonagh.
Enda Brophy, born in 1966, is an Irish professional golfer who has competed on the European Tour and won several tournaments throughout his career.
Enda Bolger, born in 1954, is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. He has trained several successful National Hunt racehorses and won numerous prestigious races, including the Aintree Grand National in 2014.
People
Enda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Enda 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
Enda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Enda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Enda 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 3,939,705 US residents.
Is Enda a common name?
We classify Enda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 238 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Enda most popular?
The single biggest year for Enda was 1922, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Enda is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Enda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 454 people with the name Enda, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,080 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 Enda 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 Enda?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Enda on both sides of the split. Of the 458 people counted with this name, 164 were male (35.8%) and 294 were female (64.2%). 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 Enda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Enda is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Enda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Enda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.5% (293 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 Enda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Enda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Enda 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 Enda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Enda 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 Enda 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 share the name Enda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.