Head to head · Girls' names
Edith vs Emely
#499 vs #503 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Edith is a whisker ahead (#499 vs #503 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Edith leads 5 measures of 6; Emely leads 1.
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: Edith #29, Emely — — Edith higher
- 1890s: Edith #30, Emely — — Edith higher
- 1900s: Edith #32, Emely — — Edith higher
- 1910s: Edith #30, Emely #3890 — Edith higher
- 1920s: Edith #42, Emely #5027 — Edith higher
- 1930s: Edith #83, Emely #3865 — Edith higher
- 1940s: Edith #124, Emely — — Edith higher
- 1950s: Edith #201, Emely #5119 — Edith higher
- 1960s: Edith #308, Emely #5691 — Edith higher
- 1970s: Edith #466, Emely #4437 — Edith higher
- 1980s: Edith #594, Emely #2846 — Edith higher
- 1990s: Edith #543, Emely #1063 — Edith higher
- 2000s: Edith #673, Emely #349 — Emely higher
- 2010s: Edith #620, Emely #417 — Emely higher
- 2020s: Edith #501, Emely #475 — Emely higher
Edith stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Emely has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Edith | Emely |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #29 | — |
| 1890s | #30 | — |
| 1900s | #32 | — |
| 1910s | #30 | #3890 |
| 1920s | #42 | #5027 |
| 1930s | #83 | #3865 |
| 1940s | #124 | — |
| 1950s | #201 | #5119 |
| 1960s | #308 | #5691 |
| 1970s | #466 | #4437 |
| 1980s | #594 | #2846 |
| 1990s | #543 | #1063 |
| 2000s | #673 | #349 |
| 2010s | #620 | #417 |
| 2020s | #501 | #475 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Edith
Prosperous in war
The Old English elements are ead, meaning wealth or fortune, and gyth, meaning strife or war. The first element also stands in Edward and Edmund; the pairing of good fortune with battle was standard and meant something like blessed in conflict.
Eadgyth → Edith
How it traveled
She was an English nurse running a hospital in occupied Brussels, and she treated wounded men from both sides and helped Allied soldiers reach the border. She was arrested, tried and sentenced, and to the chaplain the night before her execution she said that patriotism was not enough, and that she must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone.
Emely
From the Roman family name Aemilius, usually read as "rival" or "emulating"
The standard reading connects Aemilius to Latin aemulus, "rival, emulating." But Aemilius was an old Roman clan name, and clan names of that age often predate the Latin words scholars match them to, so the origin of the family name itself is not firmly settled. Both readings are honest; neither is a stretch.
Aemilius → Aemilia → Emilia → Emily → Emely
How it traveled
Aemilius was one of the great patrician family names of Rome, and its feminine form Aemilia passed into Italian and Latin church use as Emilia. Medieval English took it in and reshaped it: Chaucer's Emelye in The Knight's Tale shows the two-and-a-bit-syllable English version already in place in the fourteenth century, spelled with an e where we now write an i.
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
Edith
EE-dith
Two syllables, stress at the front. The first vowel is long.
- Edie — The front with a soft ending, and the usual short form.
- Dita — Built from the back, and standard across central Europe.
Emely
EM-uh-lee
Identical to Emily in English, and often compressed to EM-lee in quick speech. Spanish-speaking families frequently say eh-meh-LEE or EH-meh-lee, so it is worth deciding early which one you will use when introducing her.
- Em — The shortest form, used informally within families; shared with Emily, Emma and Emerson.
- Emmy — Long-established short form, also registered as a given name on its own in the US.
- Emmie — Same short form with the Scandinavian-style spelling; used informally.
- Emi — Common where the name is used by Spanish-speaking families; also stands alone.
- Also Mely.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Edith if you want…
- a name holding steadyEdith is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesEdith is 2 syllables to Emely's 3
- a long American recordEdith was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Emely
Choose Emely if you want…
- a name on the way upup 20 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itEmely runs 3 syllables, Edith 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Em, Emmy and Emmie
- a newer arrivalEmely entered the US charts in 1912
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
Edith
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and takes apart cleanly into two words.
- It is read correctly on sight everywhere in Europe.
- It is genuinely old, with a continuous record behind it.
To consider
- It carries a strong period association that is only now lifting.
- Edythe and Edyth are both in the record nearby.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though nearly every bearer in the record is a girl.
Emely
Strengths
- The sound is instantly familiar to everyone, since it is shared with Emily — no one will ask what the name is.
- Short forms are already in place and have been for generations: Em, Emmy, Emmie.
- Documented in English since Chaucer's Emelye in the fourteenth century, with Latin roots going back much further.
To consider
- This spelling will be corrected to Emily for life — on forms, in emails, by teachers on the first day. It is a one-letter fix each time, but it happens often enough that it is worth being ready for.
- The Emily spelling has been one of the most heavily used girls' names of recent decades, so while an Emely will rarely meet another, she will meet plenty of children who sound exactly like her.
- English and Spanish give the name two different rhythms, EM-uh-lee and eh-meh-LEE. In a bilingual family that can be a pleasure rather than a problem, but it does mean she may answer to both.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Edith
12%chance Edith feels dated by 2040
Edith has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Emely
40%chance Emely feels dated by 2040
Emely sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Edith and Emely 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 Edith and Emely?
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.
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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 these names appear on
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- Greatest Generation names (born 1901–1927)
- Downton Abbey names, upstairs and down
- all guides
Where Edith and Emely each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Edith or Emely — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Edith or Emely?
- Edith, in 2025: Edith ranked #499 with 595 babies; Emely ranked #503 with 590 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Edith or Emely?
- Emely. Over the last five years Edith moved down 27 places; Emely moved up 20 places.
- Which is the older name, Edith or Emely?
- Edith was already in use when US records began in 1880; Emely entered the US charts in 1912. On the American record, Edith is the older name.
- How many people are named Edith and Emely?
- About 69,000 people named Edith are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 23,500 people named Emely are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ediths or Emelys in the classroom?
- Edith will almost certainly be the only one in school. Emely will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. 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 Edith, Emely and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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