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My only association is with the Dada Surrealist painter Max Ernst, but Ernst is his surname: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ernst

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It's not a terrible name, but I prefer Ernest. Ernst sounds almost like an uncomfortable grunt when shifting the body (I mean no offense to anyone who likes this name).

I’m partial to Ernst when pronouncing it in Swedish. While I mainly consider it a dignified senior name, I could see a little boy named Ernst being well loved. Admittedly there is a harshness to it that I feel is even more apparent in English. Ernest is the kinder option to English ears. Either way, there’s always Ernie (wonderful nickname).

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Edit: I just realized it’s really difficult in either language to pronounce Ernst with a possessive. Try to say ”Ernst’s birthday” multiple times and you’ll see what I mean.

This message was edited 6/11/2025, 3:33 PM

I love Ernst, it's one of my favorite German names

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Some middle names that go with Ernst:

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Ernst Clovis
Ernst Delbert
Ernst Freeman

Ask any Swede, and they will mention Ernst Billgren and/or Ernst Kirchsteiger.
It's not my cup of tea, the sound is awkward and harsh.

I like it when said with my native pronunciation. I like it less with the English pronunciation. I think there's a Muppet called Ernst which... I don't love. That's my association with the English pronunciation.

I love Ernest - it's dignified and perennial. Nevertheless, I find Ernst harsh and incomplete.

I prefer the form Ernest. It's nice but I'm not blown away by it. I think of Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest.

I associate it with Ernst Haeckel. Cool association but I don't like the sound of the name.

Ernst has a very harsh sound.

I quite like the soud, but my main association is with Ernst Röhm.

I find Ernest unattractive, and Ernst is even worse. As KayEmAy said, it sounds like a noise. I have to agree. It really does. It sounds harsh & blunt, like there should be something else there.

sounds like a noise

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ernst ernst ernst

Ernest is my husband's first name. He was never called by it, which I'm happy about; his mn, which he goes by, is much nicer. He speaks fluent German and would have preferred Ernst to Ernest if he'd had the choice. But he didn't: it became a family name at the very beginning of the 20th century, when an ancestor from England fought in the second Anglo-Boer War, found he liked Africa, and left the army with two friends whose names were Ernest and Fraser, both of which he used for his children. At the end of the 19th century, Ernest was probably quite OK, but it lacks staying power. I also much prefer Ernst: it sounds normal, ordinary and energetic!

I associate Ernst and Ernest as like a rural country bumpkin kind of name. I imagine it on a farmer because all the Ernest's I've know were farmers or worked on farms or with animals.

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I also associate it with the Ernest movies from the 90s - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_P._Worrell . Ernest Scared Stupid scared me as a kid lol

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A lot of my opinion of the name is also based on that character.

This message was edited 6/5/2025, 12:36 PM