Edmund

English
"fortunate protector"

Edmund Origin and Meaning

The name Edmund is a boy's name of English origin meaning "fortunate protector".

The sophisticated Edmund and its nearly-identical French twin Edmond are coming out of mothballs now that Edward, inspired by Twilight, is once again a hot name.

Edmund has had an enviable history, as evidenced by these quotes: "There is nobleness in the name of Edmund," says a Jane Austen character, and the poet John Keats once bemoaned, "Had my name been Edmund, I would have been more fortunate."

Famous bearers include the English astronomer Edmund Halley, after whom the comet was named, poet Edmund Spenser, great Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean, and New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. Literary Edmunds appear in King Lear,, Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, and Dickens's Little Dorrit.

Edmund reached its highest point of popularity in the U.S. in 1914, when it was Number 130; it hasn't appeared on the list since 1997--making it even more attractive as an uncommon alternative to Edward.

Eamon is the cheery Irish version.

# 918 in the US

Edmund Rank in US Top 1000

# 289 on Nameberry

Edmund Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Edmund Popularity

Famous People Named Edmund

  • Saint Edmund the Martyr
    King of East Anglia
  • Edmund I and II
    Kings of England
  • Edmund Burke
    Irish statesman, political theorist, philosopher, author, and orator
  • Edmund Spenser
    English poet
  • Edmund Henry Garrett
    American illustrator
  • Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie
    58th U.S. Secretary of State
  • Sir Edmund Percival Hillary
    New Zealand mountaineer
  • Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl
    German philosopher
  • Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown
    American politician; 34th and 39th governor of California
  • Edmund P. Murray
    American novelist and journalist
  • Edmund Lenihan
    Irish author and storyteller
  • Saint Edmund Rich
    13th,century Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Edmund Gettier
    American philosopher
  • Edmund John James Reid
    English police detective and aeronaut
  • Edmund Anscombe
    New Zealand architect
  • Edmund Goulding
    English film director
  • Edmund Allenby
    English soldier and British Imperial Governor
  • Saint Edmund Arrowsmith
    one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
  • Saint Edmund Campion
    one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
  • Saint Edmund Gennings
    one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
  • Edmund "Ned" Foley
    son of actor Dave Foley

Edmund in Pop Culture

  • Edmund
    character in Shakespeare's "King Lear"
  • Edmund Pevensie
    character in "The Chronicles of Narnia"
  • Edmund Blackadder
    character on TV's "Blackadder," named after the character in King Lear
  • Edmund Bertram
    character in Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park"
  • Edmond Dantes
    main character in Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo"
  • Edmund Tyrone
    character in Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night"
  • Edmund Reid
    character on TV's "Ripper Street"
  • Edmund Fitzgerald
    a ship that sank in the Great Lakes
  • "Wreck of the Edmund Fizgerald
    " song by Gordon Lightfoot
  • Edmund
    character in G. A. Henty's "The Dragon and the Raven"
  • Edmund 'Bunny' Corcoran
    character in Donna Tartt's "The Secret History"
  • Edmund "Ned" Chicane
    beloved character in the second campaign of the podcast "The Adventure Zone"