Head to head · Girls' names
Eliana vs Emma
#10 vs #3 in 2025
Emma is a whisker ahead (#3 vs #10 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Emma is stepping back from its peak, Eliana is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Eliana 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, Emma leads 5 measures of 6; Eliana 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: Eliana —, Emma #3 — Emma higher
- 1890s: Eliana —, Emma #9 — Emma higher
- 1900s: Eliana —, Emma #24 — Emma higher
- 1910s: Eliana —, Emma #40 — Emma higher
- 1920s: Eliana —, Emma #57 — Emma higher
- 1930s: Eliana —, Emma #83 — Emma higher
- 1940s: Eliana —, Emma #121 — Emma higher
- 1950s: Eliana —, Emma #212 — Emma higher
- 1960s: Eliana #4496, Emma #359 — Emma higher
- 1970s: Eliana #4318, Emma #433 — Emma higher
- 1980s: Eliana #1817, Emma #293 — Emma higher
- 1990s: Eliana #885, Emma #71 — Emma higher
- 2000s: Eliana #331, Emma #5 — Emma higher
- 2010s: Eliana #114, Emma #2 — Emma higher
- 2020s: Eliana #34, Emma #2 — Emma higher
Emma stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Eliana | Emma |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #3 |
| 1890s | — | #9 |
| 1900s | — | #24 |
| 1910s | — | #40 |
| 1920s | — | #57 |
| 1930s | — | #83 |
| 1940s | — | #121 |
| 1950s | — | #212 |
| 1960s | #4496 | #359 |
| 1970s | #4318 | #433 |
| 1980s | #1817 | #293 |
| 1990s | #885 | #71 |
| 2000s | #331 | #5 |
| 2010s | #114 | #2 |
| 2020s | #34 | #2 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Eliana
- Canada#43
Emma
- Canada#3
- France#7
- England & Wales#69
- Scotland#94
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Eliana
Either "my God has answered me" (Hebrew) or a feminine form of the Roman family name Aelius
Two genuine sources meet at this spelling. The Hebrew אֱלִיאָנָה combines El, "God," with the root for "answered" — "my God has answered me." Separately, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Eliana descends from Latin Aeliana, the feminine of Aelianus, from the Roman gens name Aelius, whose own meaning was never established. Neither reading is a mistake; which one applies depends on which family line a given Eliana comes down.
Aelius → Aeliana → Éliane → Eliana
How it traveled
The Hebrew name is built from ordinary religious language — El for God, plus the verb for answering a prayer — and belongs to the same family of names as Eliezer and Elisheva. The Latin Aeliana comes from Aelius, a well-attested Roman family name, and passed through the Romance languages as Eliana in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese and Éliane in French.
Emma
whole, universal
Emma began as a short form of longer Germanic names built on the element ermin or irmin, meaning whole or universal — names like Ermengard and Irmingard. The short form outlived nearly all of them.
Irmin- (Germanic name element) → Ermengard / Irmingard → Emma
How it traveled
The name is Germanic, born as a pet form of the long Ermin- and Irmin- compounds used in medieval Frankish and German families. It reached England through Emma of Normandy, who was queen twice over in the eleventh century — first as wife of Æthelred, then of Cnut — and the name settled into English use behind her.
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
Eliana
el-ee-AH-nuh
The common American pronunciation stresses the third syllable with an open ah. Some families say eh-lee-AN-uh, rhyming the ending with Anna, and Hebrew speakers place more weight on the final syllable. All are correct for their tradition, so expect to state your preference occasionally.
- Ellie — The most common short form in American use; also given as a full name on its own.
- Ella — Informal, and independently a popular given name, so it rarely reads as a nickname.
- Lia — Drawn from the second half of the name; standard in Italian and Portuguese usage and a given name in its own right.
- Ana — Used in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families, where it is also a complete name.
- Also Eli.
Emma
EM-uh
Said the same way in English, French and German, with only a slight difference in how the final vowel is colored. Practically nobody mispronounces it.
- Em — The oldest and plainest short form, used informally in English for centuries.
- Emmy — Informal; also given as a name in its own right, and shared as a nickname with Emily and Emmeline.
- Emmie — A spelling variant of Emmy, more often written than spoken.
- Ems — Casual and modern, mostly used between friends rather than by family.
Who has carried each name
Eliana
No documented entry for Eliana yet.
Emma
Emma Stone (b. 1988) — Two-time Oscar winner (La La Land, Poor Things)
Emma Watson (b. 1990) — Harry Potter's Hermione and a UN Women advocate
Emma Thompson (b. 1959) — The only person with Oscars for both acting and screenwriting
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 Eliana if you want…
- a name on the way upup 43 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itEliana runs 4 syllables, Emma 2
- a newer arrivalEliana entered the US charts in 1961
- a name that feels very nowEliana is climbing the charts fast
Choose Emma if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsEmma is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesEmma is 2 syllables to Eliana's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooEmma is on the national lists of Canada, France, England & Wales and Scotland
- a long American recordEmma was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Eliana
Strengths
- Reads and pronounces the same in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, which matters in a multilingual family.
- Comes with short forms already in circulation — Ellie, Ella, Lia — none of which need explaining.
- Phonetic in English: people can usually spell it after hearing it once.
To consider
- Elianna, with two n's, competes closely with this spelling, so you will likely be asked which one you mean for the rest of her life.
- The wave is very recent and still rising, so the name currently belongs strongly to young children rather than to all ages.
- Ellie and Ella are the default nicknames for a long list of popular names right now — she may share them with several classmates.
Emma
Strengths
- A spelling everyone already knows — no repeating it over the phone, no correcting it on forms.
- Works unchanged in French, German and Italian, and currently charts in Canada, France, England & Wales and Scotland.
- A documented record in England going back to the eleventh century, so it reads as old rather than of-the-moment.
To consider
- It is one of the most-used girls' names in the country, so an Emma is likely to share her name at some point in school or in a workplace.
- The bulk of Emmas alive today are young adults, which for now gives the name a distinct generational feel — though the medieval and Victorian layers sit underneath it.
- Emmy is shared territory with Emily, Emmeline and Emerson, and the two are sometimes confused in speech.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Eliana
75%chance Eliana feels dated by 2040
Eliana 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.
Emma
12%chance Emma feels dated by 2040
Emma has held the top-100 across 10 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Eliana and Emma 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 Eliana and Emma?
Put both to the vote.
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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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Eliana and Emma — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Eliana or Emma — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Eliana or Emma?
- Emma, in 2025: Emma ranked #3 with 12,754 babies; Eliana ranked #10 with 8,191 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Eliana or Emma?
- Eliana. Over the last five years Eliana moved up 43 places; Emma moved down 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Eliana or Emma?
- Eliana entered the US charts in 1961; Emma was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Emma is the older name.
- How many people are named Eliana and Emma?
- About 75,500 people named Eliana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 573,000 people named Emma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elianas or Emmas in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Eliana. Roughly 1 in 5 classrooms will have a child named Emma.
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
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