Ernest

For other uses, see Ernest (disambiguation).

Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic word ernst, meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie.

Ernest

Ernest Hemingway, one of the most famous bearers.
Pronunciation	/ˈɜːrnɪst/
Gender	male
Origin
Word/name	Germanic
Meaning	earnest, serious, warrior
Region of origin	Northern Europe, Central Europe
Other names
Related names	Ernie (hypocorism) Ernestine, Erna (female forms) Ernst Ernesto Ernestas Ernő

Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:

People

• Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
• Ernest, Margrave of Austria (1027–1075)
• Ernest, Duke of Bavaria (1373–1438)
• Ernest, Duke of Opava (c. 1415–1464)
• Ernest, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (1482–1553)
• Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1623–1693)
• Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1629–1698)
• Ernest, Count of Stolberg-Ilsenburg (1650–1710)
• Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (1771–1851), son of King George III of Great Britain
• Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1818–1893), sovereign duke of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover (1845–1923)
• Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal (1846–1925)
• Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover (1914–1987)
• Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1954)
• Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1983)
• Saint Ernest (died 1148), German abbot
• Ernest Adams (disambiguation)
• Ernest Guy Amsler (1895–1986), associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court
• Ernie Anderson (1923–1997), American radio and television announcer
• Ernie Banks (1931–2015), American baseball player
• Ernest Benach (born 1959), President of the Catalan parliament
• Ernest Bernea (1905–1990), Romanian sociologist
• Ernest Bevin (1881–1951), British Labour politician
• Ernest Bohr (1924–2018), Danish lawyer, former barrister, and field hockey player
• Ernest Broșteanu (1869–1932), Romanian general during World War I
• Ernest Buckmaster (1897–1968), Australian artist
• Ernest Radcliffe Bond (1919–2003), British police officer and soldier
• Ernie Bond (footballer) (born 1929), English footballer
• Ernie Bond (politician) (1897–1984), Australian politician
• Ernest Borgnine (1917–2012), American actor
• Ernie Calloway (born 1948), American football player
• Ernie Cooksey (1980–2008), English footballer
• Ernest Corea (1932–2017), Sri Lankan Sinhala journalist, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States from 1981-1986
• Sir Ernest Marshall Cowell (1886–1971), British surgeon and military officer
• Ernie Cox (1894–1962), Canadian football player
• Ernest S. Croot III (born 1972), American mathematician
• Ernest Dale (1917–1996), American academic and writer
• Ernest Daltroff (1867–1941), French perfumer, and founder of Parfums Caron
• Ernest de Munck (1840–1915), Belgian cellist and composer
• Ernie DiGregorio (born 1951), American basketball player
• Ernest Duff (1931-2016), American businessman, lawyer and Mormon bishop
• Ernie Els (born 1969), South African golfer
• Ernest Evans (cricketer) (1861–1948), English cricketer who played for Somerset
• Ernest Evans (politician) (1885–1965), Welsh politician
• Ernest Everett Just (biologist) (1883-1941), American biologist
• Ernest E. Evans (1908–1944), officer of the United States Navy in WWII
• Ernest Peter Arnold Fernando (1919–1957), Sri Lankan Sinhala businessman and mine owner
• Ernie Fletcher (born 1952), American physician and politician, 60th Governor of Kentucky
• Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919–1991), American country singer
• Ernest Gold (composer) (1921–1999), American composer
• Ernest Gold (meteorologist) (1881–1976), British meteorologist
• Ernest Gjoka (born 1970), Albanian football coach
• Ernie Green (born 1938), American football player
• Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928–1967), Argentine physician, author and Marxist revolutionary
• Ernest Gugenheim (1916–1977), French rabbi
• Ernie Harwell (1918–2010), American baseball broadcaster
• Ernest Haycox (1899–1950), American writer of Westerns
• Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961), American writer
• Ernest George Horlock (1885–1917), English recipient of the Victoria Cross
• E. W. Hornung (1866–1921), English author and poet
• Ernie Hughes (born 1955), American football player
• Ernie Isley (born 1952), American musician, the Isley Brothers
• Ernest Johnson (disambiguation), multiple people
• Ernest Jones (disambiguation), multiple people
• Ernest Juvara (1870–1933), Romanian physician
• Ernest Koliqi (1903–1975), Albanian writer
• Ernie Kovacs (1919–1962), American comedian, actor and writer
• Ernest Krausz (1931–2018), Israeli professor of sociology and President at Bar Ilan University
• Ernest Lawrence (1901–1958), American nuclear scientist
• Ernest Lluch (1937–2000), Catalan-Spanish politician
• Ernest Earl Lockhart (1912-2006), American chemist and explorer
• Ernest Millington (1916–2009), British politician
• Ernie Morgan (1927–2013), English football player and manager
• Ernie Nordli (1912–1968), American animation artist and graphic designer
• Ernest O. Lawrence (1901–1958), American physicist
• Ernest Perera (1932-2013, Inspector-General of Sri Lanka Police from 1988-1993
• Ernie Phythian (1942–2020), English footballer
• Ernest Victor Pieris (1926-1991), Sri Lankan Sinhala physician, medical educator, cricketer, and rugby union player
• Ernest Poruthota (1931–2020), Sri Lankan Sinhala Roman Catholic priest and author
• Ernest Prakasa (born 1982), Indonesian comedian, stand up performer, writer, and actor
• Ernie Price (1926–2013), English footballer
• Ernest Prodolliet (1905-1984), Swiss diplomat
• Ernst Reuter (1889–1953), German politician and mayor of Berlin
• Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937), New Zealand chemist and nuclear physicist
• Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922), Anglo-Irish explorer
• Ernest de Silva (1887–1957), Sri Lankan philanthropist
• Ernest (musician) (K. Smith), American country music artist
• Ernest Spybuck (1883–1949), American Indian autoethnographer
• Ernest Thayer (1863–1940), American poet
• Ernest William Tristram (1882-1952), British art historian, artist and conservator
• Ernest Troubridge (1862–1926), British naval officer
• Ernest Tubb (1914–1984), American country music singer and songwriter
• Ernest Veuve (1843–1916), American Civil War soldier
• Ernest Vinberg (1937–2020), Russian mathematician
• Ernest Walker (disambiguation)
• Ernest Walton (1903–1995), Irish physicist and Nobel laureate
• Ernie Watts (born 1945), American saxophonist
• Ernie Watts (Small Heath footballer), English footballer
• Ernie Watts (footballer, born 1872) (1872–1???), English footballer
• Ernie Wise (1925–1999), stage name of English comedian Ernest Wiseman (1925–1999), Morecambe and Wise
• Ernest Ailred Worms (1891–1963), German Pallottine missionary, linguist, and anthropologist in Australia
• Ernie Zalejski (1925–2012), American football player

Fictional characters

• Ernest, one of the title characters of the Belgian-French franchise Ernest & Célestine
• Ernest, in The Swiss Family Robinson
• Ernest T. Bass, a recurring character on the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show
• Ernest Bonhour, one of the main protagonist in the French animated series The Long Long Holiday
• Ernest Denouement, a character in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Ernest Greeves, a main character from the video game Layton's Mystery Journey and the associated anime Layton Mystery Tanteisha: Katori no Nazotoki File
• Monsieur Ernest LeClerc, on the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
• Ernest Perriclof, one of the main characters in Alexandra Adornetto's The Strangest Adventures series
• Ernest P. Worrell, main comic character of the series of Ernest films as played by Jim Varney
• Ernest Worthing, main character in The Importance of Being Earnest, a play by Oscar Wilde

See also

• Ern (given name)
• Ernie, shortened version of Ernest
• Ernst
• Ernesto
• Earnest (disambiguation)