Head to head · Boys' names
Elliot vs Emilio
#151 vs #154 in 2025
Elliot is a whisker ahead (#151 vs #154 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elliot is holding its place on the charts, Emilio is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Emilio 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, Elliot leads 5 measures of 6; Emilio 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: Elliot #827, Emilio #863 — Elliot higher
- 1890s: Elliot #772, Emilio #949 — Elliot higher
- 1900s: Elliot #970, Emilio #731 — Emilio higher
- 1910s: Elliot #819, Emilio #606 — Emilio higher
- 1920s: Elliot #717, Emilio #519 — Emilio higher
- 1930s: Elliot #678, Emilio #539 — Emilio higher
- 1940s: Elliot #504, Emilio #612 — Elliot higher
- 1950s: Elliot #587, Emilio #624 — Elliot higher
- 1960s: Elliot #634, Emilio #616 — Emilio higher
- 1970s: Elliot #592, Emilio #586 — Emilio higher
- 1980s: Elliot #414, Emilio #547 — Elliot higher
- 1990s: Elliot #433, Emilio #368 — Emilio higher
- 2000s: Elliot #391, Emilio #309 — Emilio higher
- 2010s: Elliot #215, Emilio #281 — Elliot higher
- 2020s: Elliot #159, Emilio #189 — Elliot higher
Emilio stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Elliot has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elliot | Emilio |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #827 | #863 |
| 1890s | #772 | #949 |
| 1900s | #970 | #731 |
| 1910s | #819 | #606 |
| 1920s | #717 | #519 |
| 1930s | #678 | #539 |
| 1940s | #504 | #612 |
| 1950s | #587 | #624 |
| 1960s | #634 | #616 |
| 1970s | #592 | #586 |
| 1980s | #414 | #547 |
| 1990s | #433 | #368 |
| 2000s | #391 | #309 |
| 2010s | #215 | #281 |
| 2020s | #159 | #189 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elliot
- Canada#54
- Scotland#85
- England & Wales#98
Emilio
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
Elliot
from Elias/Elijah, Hebrew for 'my God is Yahweh'
The chain is well documented: Hebrew Eliyahu became Greek and Latin Elias, which medieval England shortened to Elis and French speakers dressed with the diminutive endings -ot and -et. A minority of English Elliot families instead trace their surname to Old English personal names beginning Æthel-, but the Elias route accounts for the name as it is used today.
Eliyahu → Elias → Elis → Eliot → Elliot
How it traveled
The Hebrew name Eliyahu reached western Europe as Elias, and by the Middle Ages English speakers were using it in the clipped form Elis. French diminutive suffixes turned that into Eliot, and once a personal name settles into everyday use it tends to harden into a surname — which is what happened, most visibly among the riding families of the Scottish Borders, where Elliot became one of the great Liddesdale names.
Emilio
from the Roman family name Aemilius, usually read as 'rival, striving to equal'
The standard reading connects Aemilius to Latin aemulus, 'rival' or 'emulating'. But Aemilius is itself an old patrician clan name, and clan names of that age often predate the Latin words they resemble; some scholars have instead linked it to Greek haimylios, 'winning, persuasive in speech'. Neither reading has closed the case.
Aemilius → Aemilianus → Emilius → Emilio
How it traveled
The Aemilii were one of the patrician families of the Roman Republic, and their name outlived them in stone: the Via Aemilia, laid across northern Italy in the second century BC, gave its name to the region still called Emilia-Romagna. Early Christian saints named Aemilianus and Aemilius kept the name in church calendars through the Middle Ages, and it settled into Italian and Spanish as Emilio, into French as Émile, into German and Polish as Emil.
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
Elliot
EL-ee-ut
Stress falls on the first syllable. Many speakers compress the middle, so it lands closer to EL-yut in ordinary speech. The spellings Elliot, Elliott and Eliot are all said the same way.
- Eli — The most common short form, and a fully established given name in its own right, so it works on a résumé as well as a playground.
- El — Informal, family-level, and gender-neutral.
- Ellie — Used informally, mostly for girls named Elliot; it overlaps with Ellie as a standalone name from Eleanor and Elizabeth.
- Elly — A spelling variant of the same informal short form.
- Also Ells.
Emilio
eh-MEE-lyoh
In Spanish and Italian the -lio glides into one quick syllable. English speakers often say eh-MEE-lee-oh, with four syllables; both are widely understood and the stress stays on the MEE either way.
- Emi — The everyday short form in Spanish-speaking families; informal, used mostly within the household.
- Milo — Clipped from the second half; also a fully established given name in English on its own.
- Emilito — Spanish affectionate diminutive, generally used by family and for young children.
- Emil — The standalone German, Polish and Scandinavian form, sometimes used as a shortening in English contexts.
- Also Lio.
Who has carried each name
Elliot
Elliot Page (b. 1987) — Juno and Inception star
Emilio
Emilio Estevez (b. 1962) — The Breakfast Club and Mighty Ducks star
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 Elliot if you want…
- a name holding steadyElliot is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesElliot is 3 syllables to Emilio's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooElliot is on the national lists of Canada, Scotland and England & Wales
- a long American recordElliot was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Emilio if you want…
- a name on the way upup 75 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itEmilio runs 4 syllables, Elliot 3
- a newer arrivalEmilio entered the US charts in 1882
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
Elliot
Strengths
- Eli is a ready-made short form that already stands alone as a name, so the child has a formal and an informal option from day one.
- Recognized across the English-speaking world — it charts in Canada, Scotland, and England and Wales as well as the US.
- Its parent name, Elias, has close relatives in German, French, Spanish and Italian, so the root travels even where this spelling does not.
To consider
- The three spellings — Elliot, Elliott and Eliot — sound identical, so this is a name that gets spelled aloud for life. Choosing the one-T version means correcting people who default to Elliott.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy. A girl named Elliot will be read as a boy on paper more often than not, and that is worth deciding you are comfortable with rather than discovering later.
- The Ellie short form pulls toward girls' names, so a boy called Elliot may end up with Eli or El instead by his own preference.
Emilio
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in Spanish and Italian, and close to the German and Polish Emil — it travels across languages with almost no adjustment.
- Reads phonetically to most English speakers on a first look, even those who have never met one.
- Has real short forms already in circulation — Emi, Milo, Emilito — rather than ones a family has to invent.
To consider
- It sits very close to Emilia, Emily and Emiliano, all of them well used. Expect occasional mishearing, and a few people asking which one you said.
- English mouths tend to stretch it to four syllables and sometimes soften the opening vowel toward 'uh-MEE-lee-oh'. Nothing breaks, but the crisp Spanish version may need repeating in some rooms.
- Milo, the most natural English shortening, has become popular in its own right — a child may end up known by a name you did not exactly choose.
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 Elliot and Emilio 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 Elliot and Emilio?
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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 Elliot and Emilio — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elliot or Emilio — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elliot or Emilio?
- Elliot, in 2025: Elliot ranked #151 with 2,417 babies; Emilio ranked #154 with 2,397 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elliot or Emilio?
- Emilio. Over the last five years Elliot moved up 13 places; Emilio moved up 75 places.
- Which is the older name, Elliot or Emilio?
- Elliot was already in use when US records began in 1880; Emilio entered the US charts in 1882. On the American record, Elliot is the older name.
- How many people are named Elliot and Emilio?
- About 54,000 people named Elliot are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 48,500 people named Emilio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elliots or Emilios in the classroom?
- Elliot will almost certainly be the only one in school. Emilio 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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