Emelda
Feminine · “immense battle”
Emelda writes the first vowel as an e and most speakers cannot hear the difference. The syllable is unstressed, English reduces unstressed vowels almost to nothing, and the letter chosen for that position is therefore a free decision. The name underneath belongs to a girl who died at eleven and is the patron of children making their first communion.
How old is the name Emelda?
Emelda first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Emelda alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 700 people named Emelda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emelda most popular?
Emelda peaked in 1909, reaching #1152 nationally. See the whole 1909 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From A Germanic compound ending in the element for battle to Emelda
The story of Emelda
Imelda Lambertini was a Bolognese girl who entered a convent as a child, was refused communion because she was too young by the rules of the time, and according to the account died during Mass at the age of eleven immediately after receiving it. The story was told and retold locally for centuries before she was formally beatified in the nineteenth century, and she was named patron of first communicants in the twentieth. Whatever one makes of the account, the effect on the name is documented: it stayed in use in Bologna and northern Italy on her account, and traveled from there into Italian-American and Filipino families, which is why a Germanic compound is now most common in two Catholic countries a long way from Germany.
Meaningscholars disagree
immense battle
The parent name is Germanic and usually read as joining an element about universality or immensity with the element meaning battle, though the first half is not securely identified. The reading should be given with that qualification. The respelled vowel in this form contributes nothing; it records a syllable that is barely pronounced.
How the name formed
- A Germanic compound ending in the element for battle
- Kept in northern Italy on account of a local cult
- Carried into Italian-American and Filipino families
- Emelda, with the first vowel respelled
Related forms: Imelda · Imelda
Pronouncing Emelda
ee-MEL-duh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The first syllable is reduced almost to nothing, which is why an e and an i in that position produce the same sound and why the respelling is inaudible.
Nicknames for Emelda
Moderate
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
- 1907
- Most girls named
- 192433 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1152reached in 1909
- Change vs 2001
- 0.0%5 in 2019, from 5
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.
Emelda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Imelda in Italian — spelling variant
- Imelda in Spanish — spelling variant
Emeldas among us
people named Emelda are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Emelda sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The sound is straightforward and needs no coaching.
- Melda and Elda are two complete names available from one certificate.
- It carries a genuine Germanic element and a well-documented cult.
- Imelda is the standard spelling and this one will be corrected into it.
- The name is strongly associated with one modern political figure in some countries.
- The translated element is battle, which a child who looks it up will find.
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What they receive
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Emelda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Emeldas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Emelda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Emelda in 2025?
- Emelda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Emelda with classmates?
- Emelda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Elizabeth#17 · Emily#34 · Emma#3 · Evelyn#8 · Ella#29 · Eleanor#12 · Erin#833 · Edna#2458
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emelda? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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