Emeli
Feminine
Emeli is a Scandinavian and Spanish-language spelling of Emily, and the Roman family behind it built a road that is still there.
How old is the name Emeli?
Emeli first appears in US birth records in 1986 — 39 years ago. The typical Emeli alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 1,400 people named Emeli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emeli most popular?
Emeli peaked in 2005, reaching #2057 nationally. Today it ranks #4352, 2,295 places below that high. See the whole 2005 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Emeli
Ours, offered as ours. The Via Aemilia was built in 187 BC by the consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and runs straight from Rimini to Piacenza; the modern autostrada follows it, the towns along it are still spaced as the Romans placed them, and the whole region is called Emilia-Romagna after the road. That a family name should have become a highway and then a province is a durable piece of work, and Emily is the same name.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
From the Roman gens name Aemilius, generally read from aemulus, a rival or one who strives, though the derivation is not certain. It is unrelated to Amelia, which is Germanic, despite constant confusion.
Pronouncing Emeli
EM-uh-lee
Three syllables, first stressed. Swedish gives eh-meh-LEE.
Nicknames for Emeli
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
- 1986
- Most girls named
- 200591 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2057reached in 2005
- Change vs 2024
- −17.9%32 in 2025, from 39
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.
Emeli in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Emeli in Swedish — same name
- Emily in English — same name
- Emelia in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Emelis among us
people named Emeli are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 50,227 born in 2025 was named Emeli
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Emeli
- #4352
- Emeli on the 2025 chart
- #441
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Emeli went to 32 girls in 2025, but Emely, Emelly and Emmely are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 638, which makes it the 441st most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,911 places above the chart.
- Emely590
- Emeli32
- Emelly8
- Emmely8
About 1 girl in 2,519 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 50,227 for Emeli 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
The Lashelle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Emeli's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lashelle climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lashelle's path sketches the road Emeli is walking now.
Emeli 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 Emeli is headed
Emeli looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 22% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Emeli beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Emeli in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Roman family with a road and a province named for it.
- Em and Emmy are both warm short forms in very current use.
- Five letters and three syllables, quick to write.
- Emily is the standard English spelling and will be written for her.
- It is constantly confused with Amelia, which is a separate Germanic name.
- Emeli, Emely, Emilie and Emily are all in use and only Emily is common.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Emeli to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Emeli? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Emeli
Feminine · #4352 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Emelis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Emeli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Emeli?
- Emeli is one of 4 recorded spellings. Emely is the more common one — 590 births in 2025 against 32 for Emeli.
- How popular is the name Emeli in 2025?
- Emeli ranks #4352 among US girl names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Emeli?
- About 1 in every 50,227 US girls born in 2025 was named Emeli — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Emeli with classmates?
- Emeli will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Emeli
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sigrid#4352 · Adel#4352 · Lovella#4352 · Kaysha#4352 · Arissa#4352 · Joseline#4352 · Yajaira#4352 · Elma#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emeli? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Emeli and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle