Ebony as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Ebony

What is the meaning of the name Ebony ?

The baby name Ebony is a Female name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈɛbəni/ (EB-uh-nee).

Ebony is English in Origin.

Ebony is an English word-name taken from the lustrous black hardwood long prized in carving and inlay. The word traces to Ancient Egyptian hbny, moving through Greek ebenos and Latin ebenus to Old French ébène before entering English. Its meaning evokes “black wood” and, by extension, a deep, elegant black; the wood itself comes from species of the genus Diospyros, famed for density and durability.

As a given name, Ebony surfaced occasionally in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then surged in the United States from the late 1960s through the 1980s amid Black cultural pride and the influence of Ebony magazine. It is chiefly feminine but remains technically unisex, with notable usage also in the United Kingdom and Australia during the 1990s–2000s. Variants include Eboni, Ebonie, and Ebonee; nicknames Eb and Ebby are heard. Related word-name counterparts include Ivory, Raven, and Onyx.