Head to head · Girls' names
Emilia vs Naomi
#45 vs #47 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Emilia is a whisker ahead (#45 vs #47 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. 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, Emilia leads 3 measures of 6; Naomi 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: Emilia #601, Naomi #247 — Naomi higher
- 1890s: Emilia #605, Naomi #186 — Naomi higher
- 1900s: Emilia #571, Naomi #156 — Naomi higher
- 1910s: Emilia #635, Naomi #138 — Naomi higher
- 1920s: Emilia #660, Naomi #138 — Naomi higher
- 1930s: Emilia #776, Naomi #153 — Naomi higher
- 1940s: Emilia #976, Naomi #230 — Naomi higher
- 1950s: Emilia #1216, Naomi #313 — Naomi higher
- 1960s: Emilia #1304, Naomi #381 — Naomi higher
- 1970s: Emilia #1452, Naomi #297 — Naomi higher
- 1980s: Emilia #1088, Naomi #239 — Naomi higher
- 1990s: Emilia #900, Naomi #230 — Naomi higher
- 2000s: Emilia #484, Naomi #145 — Naomi higher
- 2010s: Emilia #174, Naomi #78 — Naomi higher
- 2020s: Emilia #43, Naomi #48 — Emilia higher
Naomi stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Emilia took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Emilia | Naomi |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #601 | #247 |
| 1890s | #605 | #186 |
| 1900s | #571 | #156 |
| 1910s | #635 | #138 |
| 1920s | #660 | #138 |
| 1930s | #776 | #153 |
| 1940s | #976 | #230 |
| 1950s | #1216 | #313 |
| 1960s | #1304 | #381 |
| 1970s | #1452 | #297 |
| 1980s | #1088 | #239 |
| 1990s | #900 | #230 |
| 2000s | #484 | #145 |
| 2010s | #174 | #78 |
| 2020s | #43 | #48 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Emilia
- Canada#40
- England & Wales#45
- Scotland#62
Naomi
- Canada#64
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Naomi
Pleasantness; pleasant, agreeable
From the Hebrew root naʿem, 'to be pleasant or sweet'. The Book of Ruth plays on it directly: returning widowed, Naomi tells the women of Bethlehem to call her Mara, 'bitter', instead.
Naʿomi (Hebrew) → Noemin (Greek Septuagint) → Noemi (Latin Vulgate) → Naomi (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew, and its written life begins in the Book of Ruth. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Noemin, and the Latin Vulgate Noemi — the form that still stands in Italian, Spanish and Polish.
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
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.
Naomi
nay-OH-mee
nay-OH-mee is standard in American English; some speakers stress the first syllable instead, NAY-oh-mee. The Hebrew is closer to nah-oh-MEE, with the weight at the end, and Japanese bearers of the identical spelling say nah-oh-mee with even syllables.
- Nomi — The most established short form, and a given name in its own right in Israel.
- Naomi — Most bearers in English use the full name in every setting, formal and casual alike.
- Mimi — Informal, drawn from the last two syllables; family use more than school use.
- Nay — Casual clipped form, mostly spoken rather than written.
- Also Omi.
Who has carried each name
Emilia
Emilia Clarke (b. 1986) — Game of Thrones' Daenerys Targaryen
Emilia Jones (b. 2002) — Starred in CODA, the Oscar Best Picture winner
Naomi
Naomi Watts (b. 1968) — Two-time Oscar nominee (The Impossible)
Naomi Campbell (b. 1970) — One of the original '90s supermodels
Naomi Osaka (b. 1997) — Four-time Grand Slam tennis champion
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 Emilia if you want…
- a name with more sound in itEmilia runs 4 syllables, Naomi 3
- a name that charts abroad tooEmilia is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
Choose Naomi if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesNaomi is 3 syllables to Emilia's 4
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
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.
Naomi
Strengths
- A spelling nearly everyone can already write from hearing it once, with no silent letters or doubled consonants to explain.
- Recognizable across Hebrew, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish, so it travels without translation.
- A continuous written record from the Book of Ruth to the present, and continuous English use since the Reformation.
To consider
- Stress placement genuinely varies — nay-OH-mee, NAY-oh-mee, nah-oh-MEE — so she may spend a lifetime gently correcting people, or simply answering to all three.
- Noemi, Noemie and Naomie are all live spellings elsewhere, which means the occasional form filled out wrong even though the English spelling is the plain one.
- The name sits close to the strongest showing it has ever had in the United States, so it is climbing rather than obscure — familiar to most people who hear it, though a child is still unlikely to share a classroom with another.
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 Emilia and Naomi 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
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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 Emilia and Naomi — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Emilia or Naomi — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Emilia or Naomi?
- Emilia, in 2025: Emilia ranked #45 with 4,677 babies; Naomi ranked #47 with 4,644 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Emilia or Naomi?
- Naomi. Over the last five years Emilia moved down 4 places; Naomi moved up 5 places.
- Which is the older name, Emilia or Naomi?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Emilia and Naomi?
- About 65,000 people named Emilia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 139,000 people named Naomi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Emilias or Naomis in the classroom?
- Emilia will almost certainly be the only one in school. Naomi 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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