The name Ernest is derived from Germanic word ernst, meaning "serious".

Ernest may refer to:

People

• Ernest, Margrave of Austria (1027–1075)
• Ernest, Duke of Bavaria (1373–1438)
• Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553—1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
• Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1629–1698)
• Ernest Augustus I of Hanover (1771–1851), King of Hanover, son of King George III of England
• Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1818–1893), sovereign duke of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1845–1923)
• Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover (1914–1987)
• Ernst August, Prince of Hanover (born 1954)
• Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1983)
• Saint Ernest (died 1148), German abbot
• Ernest Adams (other)
• Ernie Anderson (1923–1997), American radio and television announcer
• Ernest Angelo (born 1934), Texas businessman and politician
• Ernie Banks (1931–2015), American baseball player
• Ernest Benach (born 1959), President of the Catalan parliament
• Ernest Bevin (1881–1951), British Labour politician
• Ernest Radcliffe Bond (1919–2003), British police officer and soldier
• Ernie Bond (footballer) (born 1929), English footballer
• Ernie Bond (politician) (1897–1984), Australian politician
• Ernest Borgnine (1917–2012), American actor
• Ernie Calloway (born 1948), American football player
• Ernie Cox (1894–1962), Canadian football player
• Ernest Daltroff (1867–1941), French perfumer, and founder of Parfums Caron
• Ernie DiGregorio (born 1951), American basketball player
• Ernie Fletcher (born 1952), American physician and politician, 60th Governor of Kentucky
• Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919–1991), American country singer
• Ernest Gold (composer) (1921–1999), American composer
• Ernest Gold (meteorologist) (1881–1976), British meteorologist
• Ernie Green (born 1938), American football player
• Ernie Harwell (1918–2010), American baseball broadcaster
• Ernest Haycox (1899–1950), American writer of Westerns
• Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961), American writer
• E. W. Hornung (1866–1921), English author and poet
• Ernie Hughes (born 1955), American football player
• Ernie Isley (born 1952), American musician, the Isley Brothers
• Ernie Isley (politician) (born 1937), Canadian politician
• Ernest Koliqi (1903–1975), Albanian writer
• Ernie Kovacs (1919–1962), American comedian, actor and writer
• Ernest Lluch (1937–2000), Catalan-Spanish politician
• Ernest Millington (1916–2009), British politician
• Ernie Morgan (1927–2013), English football player and manager
• Ernie Nordli (1912–1968), American animation artist and graphic designer
• Ernest O. Lawrence (1901–1958), American physicist
• Ernie Phythian (born 1942), English footballer
• Ernie Price (English footballer) (1926-2013)
• Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937), chemist
• Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922), Anglo-Irish explorer
• Ernest de Silva (1887–1957), Sri Lankan philanthropist
• Ernest Spybuck, (1883–1949) American Indian autoethnographer
• Ernest Troubridge (1862–1926), British naval officer
• Ernest Tubb (1914–1984), American country music singer and songwriter
• Ernest Veuve (1843–1916), American Civil War soldier
• Ernest Vinberg (born 1937), Russian mathematician
• Ernest Walker (other)
• Ernest Walton (1903–1995), Irish physicist and Nobel laureate
• Ernie Watts (born 1945), American saxophonist
• Ernie Watts (footballer), English footballer
• Ernie Watts (footballer, born 1872) (1872–?), English footballer
• Ernie Wise, stage name of English comedian Ernest Wiseman (1925–1999), Morecambe and Wise
• Ernie Zalejski (1925–2012), American football player

Fictional characters

• Ernest T. Bass, a recurring character on the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show
• Ernest Denouement, a character in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Monsieur Ernest LeClerc, on the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
• Ernest P. Worrell, main comic character of the series of Ernest films
• Ernest B. Raykes, in the film Cars
• Ernest, in The Swiss Family Robinson
• Ernest Worthing, main character in The Importance of Being Earnest, a play by Oscar Wilde
• Ernest Perriclof, one of the main characters in Alexandra Adornetto's The Strangest Adventures series

See also

• Ern (given name)
• Ernst
• Ernesto
• Ernie (other), shortened version of Ernest
• Earnest (other)

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