Head to head · Girls' names
Emerald vs Penny
#741 vs #740 in 2025
Penny is a whisker ahead (#740 vs #741 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Penny is holding its place on the charts, Emerald is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Emerald 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, Penny leads 5 measures of 6; Emerald 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: Emerald —, Penny #1022 — Penny higher
- 1890s: Emerald —, Penny #1404 — Penny higher
- 1900s: Emerald #1857, Penny #1729 — Penny higher
- 1910s: Emerald #2470, Penny #1953 — Penny higher
- 1920s: Emerald #3536, Penny #1178 — Penny higher
- 1930s: Emerald #4060, Penny #909 — Penny higher
- 1940s: Emerald #4497, Penny #190 — Penny higher
- 1950s: Emerald #4704, Penny #149 — Penny higher
- 1960s: Emerald #5580, Penny #108 — Penny higher
- 1970s: Emerald #5253, Penny #233 — Penny higher
- 1980s: Emerald #1485, Penny #715 — Penny higher
- 1990s: Emerald #902, Penny #1946 — Emerald higher
- 2000s: Emerald #1245, Penny #2798 — Emerald higher
- 2010s: Emerald #1265, Penny #947 — Penny higher
- 2020s: Emerald #803, Penny #720 — Penny higher
Penny stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Penny has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Emerald | Penny |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #1022 |
| 1890s | — | #1404 |
| 1900s | #1857 | #1729 |
| 1910s | #2470 | #1953 |
| 1920s | #3536 | #1178 |
| 1930s | #4060 | #909 |
| 1940s | #4497 | #190 |
| 1950s | #4704 | #149 |
| 1960s | #5580 | #108 |
| 1970s | #5253 | #233 |
| 1980s | #1485 | #715 |
| 1990s | #902 | #1946 |
| 2000s | #1245 | #2798 |
| 2010s | #1265 | #947 |
| 2020s | #803 | #720 |
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
Emerald
emerald — the green gemstone
The word itself is not in doubt. Its deeper trail is: English emerald comes from Old French esmeralde and Latin smaragdus, from Greek smaragdos, which linguists trace back through Semitic languages, with Sanskrit marakata standing nearby. Where exactly the chain begins is not settled, but everything from Greek onward is.
smaragdos (Greek) → smaragdus (Latin) → esmeralde (Old French) → Esmeralda → Emerald
How it traveled
The Greeks called the green stone smaragdos, a word they seem to have taken from further east; Latin turned it into smaragdus, and medieval French softened that into esmeralde, which is where English got emerald. From the same French word Spanish and Portuguese made Esmeralda, and that form became a given name long before the English one did — most famously as the name of the dancer in Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, published in 1831.
Penny
Short form of Penelope; also the English coin
Penelope's Greek root is argued two ways: from pēnē, the weft or thread on a loom, which suits Homer's weaving heroine, and from pēnelops, a kind of duck named in Greek myth. Scholars have never resolved it. Separately, Penny is identical to the English word for the coin, from Old English penig — an overlap of sound rather than a shared root."
Pēnelopeia → Penelope → Penny
How it traveled
The name behind it is Penelope, from the Greek Pēnelopeia, carried into English through the Latin and Greek texts read in schools from the Renaissance onward. Penelope stayed a somewhat literary choice in English for centuries, and Penny grew up beside it as the everyday form — the version used at home, at school, across the kitchen.
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
Emerald
EM-er-uhld
Stress on the first syllable. In quick American speech it often flattens to two syllables, EM-ruhld — both are the same word and neither needs correcting.
- Em — The default informal short form, shared with the whole Em- family of names.
- Emmy — Informal; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Emmie — Spelling variant of Emmy, used the same way.
- Ems — Casual and mostly spoken, common among friends and siblings.
- Also Esme.
Penny
PEN-ee
Stress on the first syllable. It survives accents and phone calls intact, and English speakers spell it correctly on the first hearing.
- Pen — The one further shortening in real use; informal, mostly within families.
- Penelope — Not a nickname but the long form behind it — some parents register Penelope and use Penny daily, others register Penny alone.
- Pennie — An alternate spelling that has been recorded as a given name in its own right.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Emerald if you want…
- a name on the way upup 211 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Em, Emmy and Emmie
Choose Penny if you want…
- a name holding steadyPenny is holding its place on the charts
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
Emerald
Strengths
- The spelling is an ordinary English word, so nobody has to be taught it — a rarity among uncommon names.
- Pronunciation is transparent on sight; no correction needed at roll call, in a coffee shop, or over the phone.
- Ready-made short forms already in wide use — Em, Emmy, Emmie — with no need to invent one.
To consider
- The Em- nicknames land in very crowded territory. Called Em or Emmy, a child may be one of several in a room full of Emmas, Emilys and Emmetts, and the full name is what makes her distinct.
- It is a word before it is a name, so some people will hear the gemstone, the color, the May birthstone or the Emerald Isle first. That fades fast with acquaintances and never quite does with strangers.
- Right now it is unusual enough that she is unlikely to share it with a classmate — but the trend line is upward, so the name she grows up with may be more familiar than the one you are choosing today.
Penny
Strengths
- Everyone can already spell it — it is the same string of letters as the coin, learned in childhood.
- Works either way: as a full legal name or as the everyday form of Penelope, which keeps a formal option open.
- On American records continuously since the nineteenth century, so it reads as familiar rather than newly minted anywhere in the country.
To consider
- It is a common noun as well as a name, so the coin phrases come with it: penny for your thoughts, a pretty penny, penny-pinching. Most bearers hear them early and stop noticing.
- It is still strongly represented among older generations, which means many people will have known a grown-up Penny before they meet a small one.
- People often assume it is short for something and ask for the full name. If you register Penny alone, expect to say so more than once.
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 Emerald and Penny 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 Emerald and Penny?
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
- Gemstone names: small treasures
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Disney names on real birth certificates
- Broadway names from the stage door
- all guides
Where Emerald and Penny each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Emerald or Penny — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Emerald or Penny?
- Penny, in 2025: Penny ranked #740 with 368 babies; Emerald ranked #741 with 367 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Emerald or Penny?
- Emerald. Over the last five years Emerald moved up 211 places; Penny moved down 15 places.
- Which is the older name, Emerald or Penny?
- Emerald entered the US charts in 1904; Penny entered the US charts in 1882. On the American record, Penny is the older name.
- How many people are named Emerald and Penny?
- About 9,200 people named Emerald are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 85,500 people named Penny are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Emeralds or Pennys in the classroom?
- Emerald will almost certainly be the only one in school. Penny 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 Emerald, Penny and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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