Ned is a gently old-fashioned Nancy Drew-Bobbsey Twins-era short form for Edward that sounds cooler than Ed and is enjoying a small style renaissance.

Usage of Ned in literature goes back to a Ben Johnson character in 1614, and it is also the name of the protagonist in James Fenimore Cooper's Ned Myers. In Australia, Ned Kelly is famous as a larger-than-life legendary outlaw figure. In this country, Ned Rorem is a respected modern composer.

There was a 1990s sitcom called Ned and Stacey, and other Neds have appeared in The Simpsons (neighbor Flanders), Groundhog Day and School of Rock. Ned Stark is a prominent, and unusually heroic, character in Game of Thrones, giving the name some new cultural cache, though we can't recommend using his proper name, Eddard.

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