Head to head · Girls' names
Emery vs Millie
#74 vs #73 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Millie is a whisker ahead (#73 vs #74 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Millie leads 4 measures of 6; Emery leads 2.
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: Emery —, Millie #146 — Millie higher
- 1890s: Emery —, Millie #189 — Millie higher
- 1900s: Emery #1951, Millie #225 — Millie higher
- 1910s: Emery #4443, Millie #263 — Millie higher
- 1920s: Emery #4467, Millie #342 — Millie higher
- 1930s: Emery #3815, Millie #406 — Millie higher
- 1940s: Emery #4933, Millie #504 — Millie higher
- 1950s: Emery #5224, Millie #670 — Millie higher
- 1960s: Emery #5873, Millie #952 — Millie higher
- 1970s: Emery #6398, Millie #1483 — Millie higher
- 1980s: Emery #4757, Millie #2276 — Millie higher
- 1990s: Emery #2605, Millie #2694 — Emery higher
- 2000s: Emery #1024, Millie #1513 — Emery higher
- 2010s: Emery #172, Millie #529 — Emery higher
- 2020s: Emery #79, Millie #126 — Emery higher
Millie stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Emery has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Emery | Millie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #146 |
| 1890s | — | #189 |
| 1900s | #1951 | #225 |
| 1910s | #4443 | #263 |
| 1920s | #4467 | #342 |
| 1930s | #3815 | #406 |
| 1940s | #4933 | #504 |
| 1950s | #5224 | #670 |
| 1960s | #5873 | #952 |
| 1970s | #6398 | #1483 |
| 1980s | #4757 | #2276 |
| 1990s | #2605 | #2694 |
| 2000s | #1024 | #1513 |
| 2010s | #172 | #529 |
| 2020s | #79 | #126 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Emery
Not charting outside the US.
Millie
- Scotland#7
- England & Wales#27
- Canada#83
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Emery
'power' joined to an older first element — most often read as work or labor, sometimes as whole or universal
Emery goes back to a Germanic compound ending in -ric, 'power, ruler'. The first element is disputed: many read it as amal, 'work, labor, effort' (giving Amalric), others as ermen, 'whole, universal' (giving Ermenrich). Both are serious readings and both were live names in early medieval Europe, which is part of why the question stays open.
Amalric → Emmerich → Emericus → Emeri → Emery
How it traveled
The name begins as a Continental Germanic compound — Amalric, or Emmerich in its German shape — and traveled to England with the Normans in the eleventh century, where it was written Emeri, Emery and Emory. Like most Norman given names it hardened into a surname, and it is as a surname that it kept going through centuries when almost nobody used it up front.
Millie
Depends on the longer name behind it: 'gentle strength', 'work' or 'strong worker' are the usual readings
Millie is a short form of several unrelated names, so its meaning shifts with its parent. Through Mildred it goes back to Old English mild ('gentle') and þryð ('strength, power'). Through Millicent it traces to a Germanic name built on amal ('work, labor') and swinth ('strong'). Through Amelia and Emilia the roots are amal again, and the Roman family name Aemilius. Used on its own, as it very often is now, Millie carries no single settled meaning.
Mildþryð → Mildred → Millie
How it traveled
The name is English in its current shape, but the material behind it is older and came from more than one direction. Mildred is native Old English, borne by an Anglo-Saxon abbess and revived by Victorian parents with a taste for early English names.
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
Emery
EM-uh-ree
Three syllables with the stress on the first. In fast speech the middle vowel often collapses and it comes out as EM-ree, which nobody minds.
- Em — The default informal short form, shared with Emma, Emily and Emmett.
- Emmy — Informal; also given as a standalone name in its own right.
- Emmie — Spelling variant of Emmy, used the same way.
- Ems — Casual, mostly among friends and siblings rather than family.
- Also Rem.
Millie
MIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable, and no regional disagreement about it in English. The Millie/Milly spelling choice is the only thing that trips people up, not the sound.
- Millie — Now used as a full given name in its own right on birth records, as well as an informal short form of Mildred, Millicent, Amelia, Emilia and Camilla.
- Mills — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates; a surname-style nickname of the kind English speakers apply to short names.
- Mil — Very informal and family-only; rarely written down.
- Millie-Mae — A double form found in British usage, where hyphenated pairings with Millie are established.
Who has carried each name
Emery
No documented entry for Emery yet.
Millie
Millie Bobby Brown (b. 2004) — Stranger Things' Eleven
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 Emery if you want…
- a name with more sound in itEmery runs 3 syllables, Millie 2
- a newer arrivalEmery entered the US charts in 1906
Choose Millie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 117 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMillie is 2 syllables to Emery's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMillie is on the national lists of Scotland, England & Wales and Canada
- a long American recordMillie 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
Emery
Strengths
- Both spellings, Emery and Emory, are already familiar to Americans as surnames and place names, so it is read correctly on sight.
- Short forms are ready-made: Em and Emmy need no explanation and work at every age.
- A documented line running from early medieval Germanic through Norman England to the present — few modern-sounding names have a record this long.
To consider
- Emery and Emory are both established spellings, and the one you choose will be swapped by other people fairly often. Worth deciding early which you will correct and which you will let go.
- Emery is also an ordinary English word — the abrasive mineral on an emery board. Most people never make the connection out loud, but a few will.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls. A boy named Emery is on solid historical ground, since the name was a man's for most of its life, but he will likely be the only one he meets.
Millie
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and immediately readable — most people will say it correctly on first sight.
- Works either as a full legal name or as the everyday form of Amelia, Emilia, Millicent, Camilla or Mildred, which leaves the decision flexible.
- Currently charting in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada as well as the United States, so it travels across English-speaking countries without explanation.
To consider
- Millie and Milly are both established, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out. Neither version is wrong, which is exactly what keeps the confusion going.
- It is climbing quickly. A name that is uncommon in classrooms now may be considerably more familiar by the time she starts school.
- As a diminutive by origin, it has no more formal register of its own. Some parents solve this by choosing a longer legal name and using Millie every day; others simply don't mind.
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 Emery and Millie 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 Emery and Millie?
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 Emery and Millie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Emery or Millie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Emery or Millie?
- Millie, in 2025: Millie ranked #73 with 3,353 babies; Emery ranked #74 with 3,208 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Emery or Millie?
- Millie. Over the last five years Emery moved up 15 places; Millie moved up 117 places.
- Which is the older name, Emery or Millie?
- Emery entered the US charts in 1906; Millie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Millie is the older name.
- How many people are named Emery and Millie?
- About 43,500 people named Emery are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,000 people named Millie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Emerys or Millies in the classroom?
- Emery will almost certainly be the only one in school. Millie 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Emery, Millie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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