Edgar
Old English Eadgar, joining ead, wealth or good fortune, with gar, a spear. A tenth-century English king bore it, and Shakespeare used it in King Lear.
Edgar in 2025
Edgar was given to 617 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 986th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 5,373 babies born.
The history of Edgar
Edgar reached its highest point in 2005, when 2,459 babies were given the name, ranking 301st that year. Its best-ever ranking was 127th, in 1881.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 157,919 babies have been named Edgar. Half of them were born before 1970, which places the name's centre of gravity with Generation X.
Edgar by decade
| Decade | Babies named Edgar | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 3,011 | 127 |
| 1890s | 2,992 | 180 |
| 1900s | 3,154 | 228 |
| 1910s | 14,157 | 190 |
| 1920s | 18,159 | 215 |
| 1930s | 11,937 | 261 |
| 1940s | 9,810 | 352 |
| 1950s | 8,639 | 451 |
| 1960s | 6,531 | 631 |
| 1970s | 6,865 | 559 |
| 1980s | 11,730 | 292 |
| 1990s | 22,356 | 278 |
| 2000s | 22,615 | 301 |
| 2010s | 11,628 | 411 |
| 2020s | 4,335 | 801 |
Where Edgar is heading
Edgar has fallen 45% over the past decade, from 1,114 babies in 2015 to 617 in 2025.
Names like Edgar
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Edgar.