boy's name
Edward
ED-wərd
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 100 (E&W)
- Births on record 1,388,343
the United States
#224
2025 births
Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian." It comes from ead, riches or fortune, and weard, guard, and is one of very few Anglo-Saxon names to survive the Norman Conquest.
- Edward is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in US records in 1924, when 21,223 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade in US records.
- Today about 1 in 380 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Edward over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. Edward is more popular in England and Wales — see the country table below. 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 | 23,202 |
| 1890s | 22,134 |
| 1900s | 24,601 |
| 1910s | 126,151 |
| 1920s | 198,362 |
| 1930s | 148,563 |
| 1940s | 175,319 |
| 1950s | 188,880 |
| 1960s | 144,660 |
| 1970s | 84,021 |
| 1980s | 61,256 |
| 1990s | 45,288 |
| 2000s | 30,880 |
| 2010s | 25,268 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 10,370 |
What Edward means
Edward means guardian of wealth, or fortunate protector. The first element carries prosperity and good fortune together, so the name promises a protector of what is valuable.
Where Edward comes from
Edward descends from the Old English Eadweard, combining ead, wealth or fortune, with weard, guardian. Almost every Anglo-Saxon name was abandoned within a generation of 1066, and Edward survived for a specific reason: Edward the Confessor was canonised in 1161 and became a national saint, which made the name acceptable to Norman and Plantagenet royalty. Eight kings of England have borne it, and it passed into Portuguese as Duarte, Spanish as Eduardo and Italian as Edoardo.
Edward in use
Our data shows Edward stable, peaking in 1924, at 31 in England and Wales against 224 in the United States. It is one of the most consistently used boys' names in our entire series — never fashionable, never absent, which is a rarer pattern than either a peak or a revival.
How popular is Edward?
In 2025, Edward was given to 1,385 babies in England and Wales, ranking #31 that year. It is one of the most popular names in England and Wales.
Where Edward is used
England and Wales figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year. The historical chart above uses US records, the only series running back to 1880. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Edward
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Edward also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Edward over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
7 nicknames for Edward
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Edward 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.
- Belarusian
- Eduard
- Catalan
- Eduard
- Danish
- Edvard
- Dutch
- Eduard
- German
- Eduard
- Hungarian
- Ede
- Latvian
- Edvards
- Norwegian
- Edvard
- Romanian
- Eduard
- Russian
- Eduard
- Slovene
- Edvard
- Spanish
- Eduardo
- Swedish
- Edvard
- Welsh
- Iorwerth
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Edouard
Sibling names for Edward
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Edward — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Edward
What does the name Edward mean?
Edward means "wealthy guardian," from the Old English ead, fortune, and weard, guard.
Why did Edward survive the Norman Conquest?
Edward the Confessor was canonised in 1161 and became a national saint, which made the name acceptable to Norman and Plantagenet royalty.
Why is Ted a nickname for Edward?
Medieval English swapped the initial letters of rhyming pet forms — Ed became Ted the same way Rob became Bob and Rick became Dick.
How popular is the name Edward?
In 2025, Edward was given to 1,385 babies in England and Wales, ranking #31 that year. It is one of the most popular names in England and Wales.
Is Edward a girl's or a boy's name?
Edward is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Edward?
Edward has 2 syllables.
When was Edward most popular?
Edward peaked in 1924, when 21,223 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
Is Edward a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Edward currently ranks #31 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.