girl's name
Ebony
EB-uh-nee
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 5
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 47,586
Northern Ireland
#460
2019 births
Ebony reached English from ancient Egyptian, which makes it one of the oldest borrowings in the language — hbny passed into Greek and Latin with the timber itself, and English kept both the wood and the word.
- Ebony is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1982, when 2,315 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 144,155 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1950.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Ebony over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 6 |
| 1960s | 59 |
| 1970s | 6,865 |
| 1980s | 18,464 |
| 1990s | 10,235 |
| 2000s | 2,927 |
| 2010s | 742 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 155 |
What Ebony means
Ebony means the dark hardwood. It names a material, so the sense of blackness belongs to the timber rather than describing the person carrying it.
Where Ebony comes from
Ebony is the ancient Egyptian hbny, the name of the dense black timber, which passed into Greek as ebenos and Latin as ebenus before reaching English. Very few English words can be traced to Egyptian at all, and this is among the clearest. The wood was traded up the Nile from further south and used for furniture and inlay in the tombs. Its use as a given name is American and twentieth-century.
Ebony in use
Ebony peaked in the United States in 1982, when 2,315 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 878th in England and Wales on 40 births and 5427th in the United States on 23, across 47,586 lifetime births in two of the seven markets we track. England and Wales ran its own peak of 478 births in 2005, more than twenty years after the American one.
How popular is Ebony?
In 2025, Ebony was given to 23 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Ebony is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Ebony
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ebony also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ebony over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ebony in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Ebony
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ebony — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ebony
What does the name Ebony mean?
The dark hardwood — from the ancient Egyptian hbny.
Is it really Egyptian?
Yes, and very few English words can be traced to Egyptian at all.
How did the word travel?
Into Greek as ebenos and Latin as ebenus, with the timber itself.
Where is Ebony used now?
England and Wales at 878th, which now ranks it above the United States.
How popular is the name Ebony?
In 2025, Ebony was given to 23 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Is Ebony a girl's or a boy's name?
Ebony is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Ebony?
Ebony has 3 syllables.
When was Ebony most popular?
Ebony peaked in 1982, when 2,315 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
Is Ebony a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ebony currently ranks #878 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.