Ervine
A masculine given name of uncertain origin, possibly related to the Gaulish word "erwyn" meaning alder tree.
Name Census estimates that about 29 living Americans carry the first name Ervine. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ervine today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ervine births was 1918 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ervine. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Ervine is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ervines were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ervine. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
29
~ 1 in 11,819,115 Americans
Peak year
1918
13 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1957 SSA rank
#4,166
Tracked since 1914
Census
Ervine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 143 people with the first name Ervine, which placed it at #46,519 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
#46,519
National first-name rank
People counted
143
143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ervine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ervine is White at 43.4%. The next largest groups are Black (39.9%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Ervine 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 Ervine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.4% · 62
- Black or African American39.9% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 7
- Two or more races4.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 4
Popularity
Ervine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ervine from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 72 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
Ervine 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 Ervine 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 Ervine
The given name Ervine is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with its roots traced back to the Anglo-Saxon era, around the 5th to 11th centuries CE. The name is thought to be derived from the Old English word "ēar," meaning "brave" or "courageous," and the suffix "-wine," which signifies "friend" or "protector." Consequently, the name Ervine can be interpreted as "brave friend" or "courageous protector."
While the name's origins are rooted in Old English, it is believed to have been influenced by the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century. The name underwent various spelling variations, including Ervine, Erwyn, and Ervin, as it was adapted and assimilated into different regions and cultures across the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Ervine can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, such as Ervinus and Erwynus, indicating its use among the Anglo-Norman nobility and landowners of the time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ervine. One such person was Ervine Saint-Gelais (c. 1460-1529), a French poet and courtier who served under King Francis I of France. Another prominent figure was Ervine Andrews (1785-1857), an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky.
The name Ervine also has a connection to the literary world, with the Irish playwright and novelist St. John Ervine (1883-1971) being one of the most renowned bearers of the name. Ervine was a prominent figure in the Irish literary renaissance and is best known for his plays and novels that explored the complexities of Irish society and politics.
Another notable individual was Ervine Metzl (1899-1970), an American film producer and screenwriter who worked on several notable films during the Golden Age of Hollywood, including the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz."
Lastly, Ervine Rodney (1928-2010) was a Jamaican-born British actor and playwright who had a successful career on stage, television, and film, appearing in productions such as the BBC's "The Singing Detective" and the film "The Crying Game."
People
Ervine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ervine 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
Ervine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ervine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ervine 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 11,819,115 US residents.
Is Ervine a common name?
We classify Ervine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 167 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ervine most popular?
The single biggest year for Ervine was 1918, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ervine is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ervine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 143 people with the name Ervine, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,519 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 Ervine 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 Ervine?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ervine on both sides of the split. Of the 146 people counted with this name, 112 were male (76.7%) and 34 were female (23.3%). 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 Ervine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ervine is White at 43.4%. The next largest groups are Black (39.9%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Ervine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ervine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.4% (62 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 Ervine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ervine a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ervine in the SSA data are male. 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 Ervine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ervine 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 Ervine 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 are called Ervine?
You can see how many Americans are named Ervine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.