Ernst.
a male given name from German [in turn from Middle High German, in turn from Old High German, in turn from Proto-Germanic], equivalent to English Ernest.
Meaning & usage
a male given name from German [in turn from Middle High German, in turn from Old High German, in turn from Proto-Germanic], equivalent to English Ernest.
a surname transferred from the given name.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from German Ernst m, originally a byname based on Ernst (“earnestness, seriousness”), from Middle High German ërnest (“earnestness, seriousness”), from Old High German ernust (“seriousness; vigor, strife”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnestness, vigor”). First attested in the 17th century in Norway. The surname arose from the given name. Compare Danish Ernst, Swedish Ernst, Icelandic Ernst and Faroese Ernst (“male given names”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.