Edna

Heart
Hebrew
"rejuvenation, delight"

Edna Origin and Meaning

The name Edna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "rejuvenation, delight".

Edna is one of those names that, until what it seemed like a few minutes ago, felt so terminally frumpy that no one could imagine a parent choosing it for an innocent modern baby girl. But with the great upswing in names honoring ancestral family members, several of them being other four-letter, e-ending names, we wouldn't be so sure.

Edna, which means delight, is a semi-biblical name--in the Apocrypha she is seen as a loving mother-- and was enormously popular in this country in the late nineteenth century, reaching as high as Number 11. It also relates to Eden--another, more contemporary sounding, option.

Three literary bearers of the name are Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edna Ferber and Edna O'Brien, and to some the name might be identified with the campy character, Dame Edna Everage.

# 946 in the US

Edna Rank in US Top 1000

# 931 on Nameberry

Edna Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Edna Popularity

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Famous People Named Edna

  • Edna FerberAmerican novelist
  • Edna St. Vincent MillayAmerican poet
  • (Olga) Edna PurvianceAmerican silent film actress; frequent Charlie Chaplin co,star
  • Edna O'BrienIrish novelist
  • (Edna) Annie ProulxAmerican novelist
  • Edna May OliverAmerican character actress
  • Edna Mae "Deanna" DurbinCanadian,American actress and singer
  • Edna Staebler (born Cora Margaret Cress)Canadian journalist and cookbook author
  • Edna Rae Gilloolybirth name of Ellen Burstyn, American actress
  • Edna Lyallpen name of English novelist Ada Ellen Bayly
  • Edna Ngeringwony KiplagatKenyan distance runner
  • Edna Dore (born Edna Lillian Gorring)English actress
  • Edna BestEnglish actress
  • (Flora) Edna WhiteAmerican trumpeter and bandleader
  • Edna DeakinAmerican architect

Edna in Pop Culture

  • Edna Modecharacter in animated movie "The Incredibles"
  • Edna Turnbladcharacter in movie and musical Hairspray
  • Edna Krabappelcharacter on TV's "The Simpsons"
  • Edna Birchcharacter on British soap "Emmerdale"
  • Edna Pontelliermain character in Kate Chopin's "The Awakening"
  • "Cinder Edna" children's book
  • Edna Poppycharacter in Barbara Kingsolver's "The Bean Trees"
  • Ednaservant of the Birling Household in the play "An Inspector Calls"