girl's name
Edna
ED-nuh
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 296,977
Ireland
#584
1983 births
Edna is a girl's name from a Hebrew word meaning delight, and it shares its root with Eden. Our data marks it stable, and it peaked in 1918 — the same year as Ethel, Agnes and Gladys.
- Edna is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 1918, when 8,730 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 46,047 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Edna over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 11,066 |
| 1890s | 24,144 |
| 1900s | 29,957 |
| 1910s | 67,106 |
| 1920s | 68,877 |
| 1930s | 37,172 |
| 1940s | 24,790 |
| 1950s | 15,442 |
| 1960s | 7,717 |
| 1970s | 3,416 |
| 1980s | 2,164 |
| 1990s | 1,576 |
| 2000s | 1,262 |
| 2010s | 930 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 539 |
What Edna means
Edna means delight, or pleasure. The Hebrew root is the same one behind Eden, so the name and the garden carry the same sense of something pleasurable.
Where Edna comes from
Edna is the Hebrew Ednah, delight or pleasure, from the root that also gives Eden — the garden being, in that reading, the place of delight rather than a proper name. It appears in the Book of Tobit as the wife of Raguel, which put it in the Catholic and Orthodox canons but not the Protestant one. A separate Irish Eithne, meaning kernel, was anglicized as Edna in some families, so the name has two unrelated sources that converged. Edna St Vincent Millay, who won the Pulitzer for poetry in 1923, is its best-known bearer.
Edna in use
Edna peaked in the United States in 1918, when 8,730 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 2469th in the United States on 72 births, 5545th in England and Wales and 6522nd in France, across 296,977 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Its peak year is shared exactly with Ethel, Agnes and Gladys, three of which our data now marks reviving while this one has flattened instead.
How popular is Edna?
In 2025, Edna was given to 72 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Edna 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 Edna
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Edna also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Edna over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Edna 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 Edna
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Edna — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Edna
What does the name Edna mean?
Delight or pleasure, from the Hebrew — the same root that gives Eden.
Is Edna related to Eden?
Yes, directly. Eden means the place of delight, from the same Hebrew root.
Is Edna in the Bible?
In the Book of Tobit, which is in the Catholic and Orthodox canons but not the Protestant one.
How popular is Edna?
2469th in the United States, and our data marks it stable.
Is Edna a girl's or a boy's name?
Edna is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Edna?
Edna has 2 syllables.
Is Edna a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Edna currently ranks #1,772 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.