Head to head · Girls' names
Eloise vs Emilia
#49 vs #45 in 2025
Emilia is a whisker ahead (#45 vs #49 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Emilia is holding its place on the charts, Eloise is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Eloise 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, Emilia leads 4 measures of 6; Eloise 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: Eloise #435, Emilia #601 — Eloise higher
- 1890s: Eloise #353, Emilia #605 — Eloise higher
- 1900s: Eloise #270, Emilia #571 — Eloise higher
- 1910s: Eloise #202, Emilia #635 — Eloise higher
- 1920s: Eloise #181, Emilia #660 — Eloise higher
- 1930s: Eloise #229, Emilia #776 — Eloise higher
- 1940s: Eloise #295, Emilia #976 — Eloise higher
- 1950s: Eloise #486, Emilia #1216 — Eloise higher
- 1960s: Eloise #979, Emilia #1304 — Eloise higher
- 1970s: Eloise #2211, Emilia #1452 — Emilia higher
- 1980s: Eloise #3032, Emilia #1088 — Emilia higher
- 1990s: Eloise #3374, Emilia #900 — Emilia higher
- 2000s: Eloise #1569, Emilia #484 — Emilia higher
- 2010s: Eloise #295, Emilia #174 — Emilia higher
- 2020s: Eloise #88, Emilia #43 — Emilia higher
Eloise stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Emilia has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Eloise | Emilia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #435 | #601 |
| 1890s | #353 | #605 |
| 1900s | #270 | #571 |
| 1910s | #202 | #635 |
| 1920s | #181 | #660 |
| 1930s | #229 | #776 |
| 1940s | #295 | #976 |
| 1950s | #486 | #1216 |
| 1960s | #979 | #1304 |
| 1970s | #2211 | #1452 |
| 1980s | #3032 | #1088 |
| 1990s | #3374 | #900 |
| 2000s | #1569 | #484 |
| 2010s | #295 | #174 |
| 2020s | #88 | #43 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Eloise
- Canada#57
- England & Wales#85
- Scotland#91
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
Eloise
Most often traced to Germanic elements meaning "healthy" and "wide"
The usual derivation is from an Old Frankish name reconstructed as Helewidis, from heil "hale, healthy" and wid "wide". A competing line connects it instead to the same Germanic root as Louis and Louise, hlud "famous" and wig "battle", the two names having influenced each other in medieval French. Neither reading has fully won, and both are taken seriously.
Helewidis → Héloïse → Heloise → Eloise
How it traveled
The name belongs to the Frankish naming stock that spread through northern France after the fall of Rome, surfacing in Old French records as Helewidis and later smoothing into Héloïse. It traveled into English mainly through French literary and religious channels, losing its accents on the way and settling as Eloise and Heloise.
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
Eloise
EL-oh-eez
Stress falls on the first syllable in most American use, though some families stress the last: el-oh-EEZ. The final consonant is usually a z; a softer -eece ending is also heard. The French Héloïse is ay-loh-EEZ.
- Ellie — The most common short form in American use; also given as a full name on its own, and shared with Eleanor, Ella and Elizabeth.
- Lo — Informal, drawn from the middle of the name; used at home rather than on paperwork.
- El — A one-syllable clip used casually, mostly among peers.
- Weezie — An older family nickname pattern, shared historically with Louise; heard chiefly within families rather than at school.
- Also Elle.
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
Eloise
No documented entry for Eloise yet.
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 Eloise if you want…
- a name on the way upup 88 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesEloise is 2 syllables to Emilia's 4
- a name that feels very nowEloise is climbing the charts fast
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, Eloise 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 61% for Eloise
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
Eloise
Strengths
- Documented in Europe since the Middle Ages and in continuous English use, so it is neither a new coinage nor tied to a single decade.
- Charts in Canada, England and Wales, and Scotland as well as the United States, so it travels well across English-speaking countries.
- Has ready-made short forms — Ellie, Lo, El — for a child who wants something shorter, without requiring one.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood: Elise, Elisa, Eloisa and Heloise all get confused with it, and you can expect to spell it aloud fairly often.
- The nickname Ellie is currently shared with Eleanor, Ella, Elizabeth and Isabella, so a shortened Eloise may not stand out in a classroom.
- It is rising quickly, which means a child born now will meet more Eloises among her own age group than the wider population would suggest.
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.
How each is likely to age
Eloise
61%chance Eloise feels dated by 2040
Eloise 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.
Emilia
40%chance Emilia feels dated by 2040
Emilia 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 Eloise and Emilia in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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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
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Eloise and Emilia — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Eloise or Emilia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Eloise or Emilia?
- Emilia, in 2025: Emilia ranked #45 with 4,677 babies; Eloise ranked #49 with 4,251 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Eloise or Emilia?
- Eloise. Over the last five years Eloise moved up 88 places; Emilia moved down 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Eloise or Emilia?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Eloise and Emilia?
- About 43,000 people named Eloise 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 Eloises or Emilias in the classroom?
- Eloise 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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