Emanuel
Masculine · “God is with us”
Emanuel is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 54,756 boys against 99 girls since 1880.
Emanuel comes straight out of the Book of Isaiah, where the Hebrew phrase Immanu'el — "God is with us" — was written as a sign, and it has been carried by people in Greek, Latin, German, Spanish and Portuguese ever since. It has four syllables that step down cleanly from a light opening to the firm el at the end, and it arrives already fitted with everyday short forms in more than one language.
How old is the name Emanuel?
Emanuel was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Emanuel alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 43,000 people named Emanuel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emanuel most popular?
Emanuel peaked in 1880, reaching #211 nationally. Today it ranks #574, 363 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Emanuel appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Immanu'el to Emanuel
The story of Emanuel
The name begins as a Hebrew sentence rather than a label: Immanu'el, "God is with us", set down in the Book of Isaiah. The Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures rendered it Emmanouel, Latin took it as Emmanuel, and from there it spread through Christian Europe as a given name in its own right. Iberian speakers clipped the front off to make Manuel, which became one of the most-used names in Spain and Portugal and later across Latin America, while German and Scandinavian usage kept the fuller Immanuel and Emanuel. The single-m spelling Emanuel is the form long standard in German, Portuguese and much of central Europe, and it reached the United States by both of those roads.
Meaning
God is with us
From Hebrew immanu ("with us") plus El ("God"). The phrase appears in Isaiah 7:14 and is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew.
How the name formed
- Immanu'el
- Emmanouel
- Emmanuel
- Emanuel
- Manuel
Related forms: Manuel · Emmanuel · Emanuele · Immanuel · Manoel · Immanu'el
Pronouncing Emanuel
ih-MAN-yoo-el
Four syllables with the stress on MAN. Spanish and Portuguese speakers say it closer to eh-mah-noo-EL, with the weight at the end, and both are correct for the same name.
Nicknames for Emanuel
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20071,386 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #211reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −22.5%513 in 2025, from 662
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Emanuel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Manuel in Spanish — related form
- Emmanuel in French — spelling variant
- Emanuele in Italian — same name
- Immanuel in German — spelling variant
- Manoel in Portuguese — related form
- Immanu'el in Hebrew — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Emanuels among us
people named Emanuel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,330 born in 2025 was named Emanuel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Emanuel
- #574
- Emanuel on the 2025 chart
- #147
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Emanuel went to 513 boys in 2025, but Emmanuel is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 2,548, which makes it the 147th most-given boys’ name of the year — 427 places above the chart.
- Emmanuel2,035
- Emanuel513
About 1 boy in 670 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 3,330 for Emanuel itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Emanuel 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Emanuel is headed
Emanuel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Emanuel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Emanuel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is fully settled and easy to state — "God is with us" — with a source text anyone can look up.
- Works in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and German with only small adjustments, which matters in a bilingual family.
- Comes with short forms already in real use — Manny and Manu — so no nickname has to be invented.
- One of the oldest continuously used names in the Western record, in service since the early centuries of Christianity.
- Familiar to nearly everyone by sound, while a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- The double-m Emmanuel is the more expected spelling in English, so expect a lifetime of gentle corrections — and of forms coming back with the extra letter added.
- The meaning is openly religious and most listeners know it, which is a feature for some families and a consideration for others.
- Manny is the shortening most people will reach for without asking. Worth deciding in advance whether that suits you.
- It sits close to Manuel and Emmanuel in speech, and the three get mixed up in conversation more than on paper.
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What they receive
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Emanuel
Masculine · #574 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Emanuels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 43,000 people named Emanuel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Emanuel?
- Emanuel is one of 2 recorded spellings. Emmanuel is the more common one — 2,035 births in 2025 against 513 for Emanuel.
- How popular is the name Emanuel in 2025?
- Emanuel ranks #574 among US boy names in 2025, with 513 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Emanuel?
- About 1 in every 3,330 US boys born in 2025 was named Emanuel — 513 in all.
- Will my child share the name Emanuel with classmates?
- Emanuel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Emanuel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rhodes#575 · Clay#573 · Johan#572 · Jamari#576 · Jamie#577 · Enrique#571 · Kylan#578 · Allen#578
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emanuel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Emanuel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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