Edna

Edna comes from Hebrew and is usually understood as “delight” or “pleasure.” Its root is associated with enjoyment, placing it in the same broad linguistic neighborhood as Eden. In the Book of Tobit, Edna is Sarah’s mother and Raguel’s wife. Tobit belongs to the Catholic and Orthodox biblical traditions and is included among the Apocrypha in some other Christian editions.

The name also has a substantial literary life outside scripture. Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and novelists Edna Ferber and Edna O’Brien give it several distinct associations with writing. Its four letters make it economical on the page, while those namesakes help explain its older literary character. For a family considering a vintage name, Edna combines that history with an unusually cheerful underlying meaning.