Head to head · Girls' names
Elena vs Emilia
#42 vs #45 in 2025
Elena is a whisker ahead (#42 vs #45 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elena is climbing the charts fast, Emilia is holding its place on the charts.
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, Elena leads 4 measures of 6; Emilia 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: Elena #760, Emilia #601 — Emilia higher
- 1890s: Elena #681, Emilia #605 — Emilia higher
- 1900s: Elena #580, Emilia #571 — Emilia higher
- 1910s: Elena #494, Emilia #635 — Elena higher
- 1920s: Elena #468, Emilia #660 — Elena higher
- 1930s: Elena #518, Emilia #776 — Elena higher
- 1940s: Elena #507, Emilia #976 — Elena higher
- 1950s: Elena #484, Emilia #1216 — Elena higher
- 1960s: Elena #440, Emilia #1304 — Elena higher
- 1970s: Elena #397, Emilia #1452 — Elena higher
- 1980s: Elena #372, Emilia #1088 — Elena higher
- 1990s: Elena #303, Emilia #900 — Elena higher
- 2000s: Elena #213, Emilia #484 — Elena higher
- 2010s: Elena #111, Emilia #174 — Elena higher
- 2020s: Elena #49, Emilia #43 — Emilia higher
Elena stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Emilia took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elena | Emilia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #760 | #601 |
| 1890s | #681 | #605 |
| 1900s | #580 | #571 |
| 1910s | #494 | #635 |
| 1920s | #468 | #660 |
| 1930s | #518 | #776 |
| 1940s | #507 | #976 |
| 1950s | #484 | #1216 |
| 1960s | #440 | #1304 |
| 1970s | #397 | #1452 |
| 1980s | #372 | #1088 |
| 1990s | #303 | #900 |
| 2000s | #213 | #484 |
| 2010s | #111 | #174 |
| 2020s | #49 | #43 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elena
- France#42
- Canada#48
Emilia
- Canada#40
- England & Wales#45
- Scotland#62
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Elena
Most often read as "torch" or "light", though the root is genuinely disputed
Elena goes back to Greek Helenē, and nobody has settled what that word meant. The two long-standing readings connect it to helenē, a torch, and to selas, brightness or light; a third links it to the moon-name Selene. The name is far older than the explanations offered for it, which is why the explanations compete.
Helenē → Helena → Elena
How it traveled
The name begins in Greek as Helenē, borne by the figure at the center of Homer's Iliad, and passes into Latin as Helena. From Latin it settled across the Romance and Slavic worlds, losing its initial H along the way: Elena in Italian, Spanish and Romanian, Yelena in Russian.
Emilia
Traditionally linked to Latin aemulus, "rival" or "striving to equal"
Emilia is the feminine of the Roman family name Aemilius. The usual reading connects it to Latin aemulus, "rival, emulating." But Roman family names of that age often came from Etruscan, and a good number of scholars treat Aemilius as one of those — old, inherited, and not translatable. Worth knowing too that Emilia and Amelia are not the same name at root: Amelia descends from Germanic Amalia, from amal, "work." The two have blurred together in English, but they arrived from different directions.
Aemilius → Aemilia → Emilia → Emily
How it traveled
The name begins as Aemilia, the feminine of Aemilius, one of the patrician family names of the Roman Republic. In the second century BC an Aemilius laid the great road north from Rimini, and the region of Emilia-Romagna carries that name to this day.
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
Elena
eh-LAY-nuh
Also widely said eh-LEH-nah, closer to the Spanish and Italian, and some families stress the first syllable: EH-leh-nah. All three are established, so it is worth deciding which one you want and saying it that way from the start.
- Ellie — The most common English short form, and a standalone given name in its own right.
- Lena — The standard shortening in Italian, German and Slavic families; also used alone as a full name.
- Elle — A clipped, one-syllable option; independently in use as a given name.
- Nellie — An older short form of the Helen family, informal and still recognized across generations.
- Also Lenka, Elenita.
Emilia
eh-MEE-lee-uh
Four syllables, stress on the second. Many American speakers say uh-MEE-lee-uh, which sounds almost identical to Amelia. In Italian and Spanish the ending compresses to eh-MEE-lyah, and Polish speakers say it much the same way.
- Emi — Informal and the most direct shortening; also spelled Emmy or Emmie.
- Mila — Taken from the middle of the name; widely used as an independent given name in its own right.
- Emma — Used informally within families, though it is a separate, long-established given name elsewhere.
- Millie — Informal; shared with Amelia, Camilla and Millicent, so it does not point back to one full name.
- Also Lia.
Who has carried each name
Elena
Elena Ferrante (b. 1943) — Mystery-shrouded author of My Brilliant Friend
Elena Kagan (b. 1960) — US Supreme Court justice
Elena Cornaro Piscopia (b. 1646) — First woman ever to earn a doctoral degree (Padua, 1678)
Emilia
Emilia Clarke (b. 1986) — Game of Thrones' Daenerys Targaryen
Emilia Jones (b. 2002) — Starred in CODA, the Oscar Best Picture winner
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 Elena if you want…
- a name on the way upup 13 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesElena is 3 syllables to Emilia's 4
Choose Emilia if you want…
- a name holding steadyEmilia is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itEmilia runs 4 syllables, Elena 3
- a name that charts abroad tooEmilia is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
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
Elena
Strengths
- The same spelling works in Italian, Spanish, Romanian and Russian-speaking families, with no adjustment and no explanation needed.
- Several long-established short forms already exist — Ellie, Lena, Elle — so nothing has to be invented.
- Part of the Helen family, one of the oldest documented name lines in Europe, in unbroken use since ancient Greek.
To consider
- Three pronunciations are all correct, and Elena will spend some of her life correcting people who chose a different one.
- It sits in a crowded field of near-identical spellings — Elaina, Alaina, Helena, Alayna — so expect to spell it aloud fairly often.
- The name is climbing steadily, so it is likely to feel more common by the time she reaches school than it does now.
Emilia
Strengths
- Spelled identically in Italian, Spanish and Polish, so relatives in several languages can read it without adjustment.
- A documented written record stretching from Republican Rome through Boccaccio and Shakespeare to the present day, with no long gaps.
- Ready-made short forms already in wide use — Emi, Mila, Millie, Lia — so nothing has to be invented.
To consider
- Amelia and Emily are both common, and all three sound close. Expect to spell Emilia out fairly often, and to hear it read back as Amelia.
- Its rise here is recent, so most American Emilias are still young children rather than adults — the name reads as current rather than inherited.
- Mila and Emma, two of its natural short forms, are established names on their own, so a child may meet classmates who carry them in full.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Elena and Emilia in full.
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Decide together
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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 Elena and Emilia — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elena or Emilia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elena or Emilia?
- Elena, in 2025: Elena ranked #42 with 4,836 babies; Emilia ranked #45 with 4,677 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elena or Emilia?
- Elena. Over the last five years Elena moved up 13 places; Emilia moved down 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Elena or Emilia?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Elena and Emilia?
- About 100,000 people named Elena are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 65,000 people named Emilia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elenas or Emilias in the classroom?
- Elena will almost certainly be the only one in school. Emilia 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
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