Head to head · Girls' names
Daisy vs Emery
#75 vs #74 in 2025
Emery is a whisker ahead (#74 vs #75 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Emery is climbing the charts fast, Daisy is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Daisy has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Daisy leads 4 measures of 6; Emery leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Daisy #59, Emery — — Daisy higher
- 1890s: Daisy #83, Emery — — Daisy higher
- 1900s: Daisy #90, Emery #1951 — Daisy higher
- 1910s: Daisy #129, Emery #4443 — Daisy higher
- 1920s: Daisy #166, Emery #4467 — Daisy higher
- 1930s: Daisy #196, Emery #3815 — Daisy higher
- 1940s: Daisy #269, Emery #4933 — Daisy higher
- 1950s: Daisy #387, Emery #5224 — Daisy higher
- 1960s: Daisy #519, Emery #5873 — Daisy higher
- 1970s: Daisy #563, Emery #6398 — Daisy higher
- 1980s: Daisy #287, Emery #4757 — Daisy higher
- 1990s: Daisy #161, Emery #2605 — Daisy higher
- 2000s: Daisy #148, Emery #1024 — Daisy higher
- 2010s: Daisy #175, Emery #172 — Emery higher
- 2020s: Daisy #110, Emery #79 — Emery higher
Daisy stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Emery has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Daisy | Emery |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #59 | — |
| 1890s | #83 | — |
| 1900s | #90 | #1951 |
| 1910s | #129 | #4443 |
| 1920s | #166 | #4467 |
| 1930s | #196 | #3815 |
| 1940s | #269 | #4933 |
| 1950s | #387 | #5224 |
| 1960s | #519 | #5873 |
| 1970s | #563 | #6398 |
| 1980s | #287 | #4757 |
| 1990s | #161 | #2605 |
| 2000s | #148 | #1024 |
| 2010s | #175 | #172 |
| 2020s | #110 | #79 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Daisy
- England & Wales#18
- Scotland#26
Emery
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Daisy
The daisy flower
From the flower's name, Old English dæges eage, 'day's eye'. Daisy was also long used as a nickname for Margaret.
dæges eage → daisy → Daisy
How it traveled
Daisy spread in the nineteenth century both as a flower name and as a nickname for Margaret. Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, known to her family all her life as Daisy, founded the Girl Scouts in 1912, and the youngest Girl Scouts are still called Daisies after her.
Emery
'power' joined to an older first element — most often read as work or labor, sometimes as whole or universal
Emery goes back to a Germanic compound ending in -ric, 'power, ruler'. The first element is disputed: many read it as amal, 'work, labor, effort' (giving Amalric), others as ermen, 'whole, universal' (giving Ermenrich). Both are serious readings and both were live names in early medieval Europe, which is part of why the question stays open.
Amalric → Emmerich → Emericus → Emeri → Emery
How it traveled
The name begins as a Continental Germanic compound — Amalric, or Emmerich in its German shape — and traveled to England with the Normans in the eleventh century, where it was written Emeri, Emery and Emory. Like most Norman given names it hardened into a surname, and it is as a surname that it kept going through centuries when almost nobody used it up front.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Daisy
DAY-zee
Two syllables, stress on the first.
- Dais — Informal clipping.
Emery
EM-uh-ree
Three syllables with the stress on the first. In fast speech the middle vowel often collapses and it comes out as EM-ree, which nobody minds.
- Em — The default informal short form, shared with Emma, Emily and Emmett.
- Emmy — Informal; also given as a standalone name in its own right.
- Emmie — Spelling variant of Emmy, used the same way.
- Ems — Casual, mostly among friends and siblings rather than family.
- Also Rem.
Who has carried each name
Daisy
Daisy Ridley (b. 1992) — Star Wars' Rey
Daisy Edgar-Jones (b. 1998) — Star of Normal People and Where the Crawdads Sing
Emery
No documented entry for Emery yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Daisy if you want…
- a name on the way upup 68 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesDaisy is 2 syllables to Emery's 3
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Daisy (Dais)
- a name that charts abroad tooDaisy is on the national lists of England & Wales and Scotland
Choose Emery if you want…
- a name with more sound in itEmery runs 3 syllables, Daisy 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Em, Emmy and Emmie
- a newer arrivalEmery entered the US charts in 1906
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Daisy
Strengths
- Instantly recognized and spelled the way everyone expects.
- A long American history with a strong modern return.
- A cheerful flower name with a real founder's story behind it.
To consider
- It is common again, so a Daisy may share her name with a classmate.
- Some people still hear it as a nickname and ask for the full name.
- For a boy it would be very unusual.
Emery
Strengths
- Both spellings, Emery and Emory, are already familiar to Americans as surnames and place names, so it is read correctly on sight.
- Short forms are ready-made: Em and Emmy need no explanation and work at every age.
- A documented line running from early medieval Germanic through Norman England to the present — few modern-sounding names have a record this long.
To consider
- Emery and Emory are both established spellings, and the one you choose will be swapped by other people fairly often. Worth deciding early which you will correct and which you will let go.
- Emery is also an ordinary English word — the abrasive mineral on an emery board. Most people never make the connection out loud, but a few will.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls. A boy named Emery is on solid historical ground, since the name was a man's for most of its life, but he will likely be the only one he meets.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Daisy
30%chance Daisy feels dated by 2040
Daisy is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
Emery
49%chance Emery feels dated by 2040
Emery is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Daisy and Emery in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Daisy and Emery?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Daisy and Emery — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Daisy or Emery — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Daisy or Emery?
- Emery, in 2025: Emery ranked #74 with 3,208 babies; Daisy ranked #75 with 3,206 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Daisy or Emery?
- Daisy. Over the last five years Daisy moved up 68 places; Emery moved up 15 places.
- Which is the older name, Daisy or Emery?
- Daisy was already in use when US records began in 1880; Emery entered the US charts in 1906. On the American record, Daisy is the older name.
- How many people are named Daisy and Emery?
- About 101,000 people named Daisy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 43,500 people named Emery are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Daisys or Emerys in the classroom?
- Daisy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Emery will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Daisy, Emery and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap