Ethan

Hebrew
"strong, firm"

Ethan Origin and Meaning

The name Ethan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "strong, firm".

Ethan is a name that succeeds in being at once classic and fashionable, serious and cheery, strong and sensitive. Given a big boost via the name of the Tom Cruise character in the Mission Impossible film series, Ethan has fallen from its peak at Number 2 in 2009 and 2010, but is still popular in the US along with several other countries.

There are several Ethans in the Old Testament, the most prominent of whom, Ethan the Ezrahite, is praised for his wisdom.

Ethan's prime historic namesake in the US is Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War hero; in literature the name is associated with the eponymous Ethan Frome of Edith Wharton's novel. A more current namesake is actor Ethan Hawke.

Along with the English-speaking countries, Ethan is popular in France and other French-speaking European countries and in Latin America.

While Americans and Brits pronounce the name EE-thun, most other languages follow the pronunciation of its native Hebrew: AY-tahn. International variations include Etan, Izan, and Eitan, from which the name derives.

# 25 in the US

Ethan Rank in US Top 1000

# 44 on Nameberry

Ethan Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Ethan Popularity

Famous People Named Ethan

  • Ethan
    grandson of Judah (1 Chr. 2:6)
  • Ethan
    son of Kushaiah (1 Chr. 15:17)
  • Ethan the Ezrahite
    Biblical psalmist (Ps. 89)
  • Ethan Allen
    American Revolutionary War hero
  • Ethan Jesse Coen
    American film director and screenwriter
  • Ethan Skip Erickson
    American actor
  • Ethan Green Hawke
    American actor
  • Ethan Gregory Peck
    American actor; grandson of actor Gregory Peck
  • Ethan Zohn
    American soccer player
  • Ethan Josh Lee
    American actor
  • Ethan Anthony Couch
    American so,called "affluenza teen"
  • Ethan Edward Minogue Smith
    son of singer Dannii Minogue
  • Ethan Joshua Maher
    brother of singer/actress Kaitlyn Maher
  • Ethan Davison (b. 1996)
    son of actors Bruce Davison and Lisa Pelikan
  • Ethan Ford
    son of chef Benjamin Ford; grandson of actor Harrison Ford
  • Ethan Anka
    son of singer Paul Anka
  • Ethan Page Furlong (b. 2006)
    son of American actor and musician Edward Furlong
  • Ethan Suplee
    American actor
  • Ethan Grant Dolan
    social media influencer
  • Ethan (b. 2016)
    son of American actor and singer,songwriter Cheyenne Jackson
  • Ethan Carter III (b. 1983)
    American wrestler
  • Ethan Klein
    Youtuber on H3H3 productions; runs H3 Podcast

Ethan in Pop Culture

  • Ethan Isaac Gordimer
    main male character in Scarlett Avery’s book “Delectably British”.
  • "Ethan Frome
    " novel by Edith Wharton
  • Ethan Hunt
    main character in the "Mission: Impossible" series
  • Ethan Rom
    character on TV's "Lost"
  • Ethan Chandler (Talbot)
    character on TV's "Penny Dreadful"
  • Ethan Karamakov
    character on TV's "Dance Academy"
  • Ethan Wate
    character in the "Beautiful Creatures" series
  • Ethan Kavanagh
    character in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" series
  • Ethan Nakamura
    character in the "Percy Jackson" series
  • Ethan Morgan
    character in film "My Babysitter's a Vampire"
  • Ethan
    character in "The Here and Now" by Ann Brashares
  • Ethan
    character in "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
  • Ethan
    wolf on TV's "Teen Wolf"
  • Ethan Moore
    character in the "Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead
  • Ethan Diaz
    character on TV's "Stuck in the Middle"
  • Ethan Edwards
    character in "The Searchers"
  • Ethan
    protagonist in Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver video games
  • Ethan Winters
    protagonist in the video game "Resident Evil 7"
  • Ethan Miller
    character in the 2015 film "The Night Before"
  • Ethan Weston
    character on TV's "thirtysomething"
  • Ethan
    a vampire in the French online visual novel Moonlight Lovers