Edna
Edna has dual origins. In the Hebrew Bible, Edna appears in the Book of Tobit as the mother of Sarah, and the name may derive from "ednah," meaning pleasure or delight. In Irish, Edna is also a feminine form of Edan, from the Celtic "aed" (fire). The two origins coexist in the same name, which is unusual. Edna was a top-50 American name from 1880 to 1925, peaking at #11 in 1900. Then it declined — slowly at first, then steeply. By the 1970s, Edna was considered the quintessential "old lady name," with all the mockery that implied. The character Edna Mode in Pixar's "The Incredibles" (2004), the demanding fashion designer to the superheroes, gave the name a new charge — fierce, funny, unmistakably stylish. I find Edna has a slightly heavy sound — the "Ed" opening is blunt, and the "na" ending is plain. But the meaning (pleasure or fire) is more interesting than the sound suggests. The name has been outside the US top 1000 since 1995. Whether it returns depends on whether the vintage cycle reaches back to the 1890s — Alice came back, Edith came back, but Edna has been slower. Edna is a female name of Hebrew / Celtic origin that means "Pleasure (Hebrew) or fire (Celtic)". Old-fashioned, formidable, and a little funny. The name sounds serious. Ednas tend to be no-nonsense. US peaked #11 in 1900. Outside top 1000 since 1995. Well-known people named Edna include Edna Mode (fictional, The Incredibles), Edna St. Vincent Millay (poet), Edna (biblical), Edna Ferber (author). Common variations and related forms of Edna include Ednah (variant), Eadie (related), Edie (short form), Edna (used across English).