Home › Baby Names Directory › Egbert

Egbert

♂ Boy

How to Pronounce Egbert

Pronounced EG-bert /ˈɛɡ.bərt/High

Meaning: Egbert is an Old English name combining ecg, 'edge, sword-edge', with beorht, 'bright, famous', giving 'bright blade' or 'bright edge'; it was borne by King Egbert of Wessex and reads today as a distinctly antique English name.Medium

In 30 seconds: Egbert is a true Anglo-Saxon name meaning 'bright edge' — once royal, now charmingly antique (said 'EG-bert').

💕 Browse more names

Origin MediumOld English, Germanic

MeaningEgbert is an Old English name combining ecg, 'edge, sword-edge', with beorht, 'bright, famous', giving 'bright blade' or 'bright edge'; it was borne by King Egbert of Wessex and reads today as a distinctly antique English name.

U.S. rank (2017)#8331 ↗ Rising

2017 U.S. births9 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)

Peak year1921

Total births (all-time)≈ 1,231

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Egbert joins Old English ecg, 'edge' or 'sword-edge', with beorht, 'bright, famous' — 'the bright blade'. King Egbert of Wessex (reigned in the ninth century) is its most famous bearer, and the name kept a quiet life for centuries before slipping toward the antique, faintly comic register it has today.

Egbert has a long thin American history from the 1880s, cresting around 1921 and all but vanishing by mid-century — only a few dozen boys a year even at its height. Anyone named Egbert now would be very elderly, and the name reads as thoroughly old-fashioned, not yet revived.

Did you know? Egbert was borne by a ninth-century king of Wessex often counted among the forerunners of a united England, giving this now-rare name a genuine regnal pedigree.

Overall data confidence 70%

Behind the Name — Egbert — Old English ecg + beorht, 'bright edge'

Variations

EgburtEcgberht

Nicknames

EggBert

Famous Bearers

★Egbert (c.770–839)
King of Wessex in the early ninth century, sometimes reckoned among the forerunners of a unified England.

If you like Egbert…

Albert— a like -bert Germanic name meaning 'bright'

Herbert— another antique -bert boys' name of the era

Gilbert— a same-family 'bright' name now old-fashioned

Norbert— a fellow vintage Germanic -bert name

Explore names like Egbert

By themevintage antique anglo-saxon

All themes →All meanings →All origins →

Frequently Asked

What does the name Egbert mean?

Egbert is an Old English name meaning 'bright edge', from ecg, 'sword-edge', and beorht, 'bright'.

How do you pronounce Egbert?

It's said EG-bert /ˈɛɡ.bərt/ — two syllables, stress on the first.

Is Egbert a boy or girl name?

Egbert is used as a boy's name.

How popular is Egbert?

Egbert is very rare and antique — borne by only a few dozen boys a year around the early twentieth century, and almost unused since.