Emelie
Feminine
Emelie is the Swedish and older French spelling of Emily, and Emily comes from a Roman family name that nobody can explain. The Aemilii were a great patrician house of the republic; what their name meant had been forgotten before the empire began.
How old is the name Emelie?
Emelie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Emelie alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 2,000 people named Emelie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emelie most popular?
Emelie peaked in 1880, reaching #547 nationally. Today it ranks #5099, 4,552 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Aemilia to Emelie
The story of Emelie
Aemilia was the feminine of the family name, and it survived the empire through a fifth-century saint. The Italian Emilia and the French Emilie carried it through the Middle Ages, and English took Emily in the eighteenth century, at which point it collided with the German Amalia and the two families have been tangled ever since. Swedish spells it Emelie and uses it heavily; it was also a common American spelling in the nineteenth century, when French forms were fashionable.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Roman Aemilius has no secure etymology. A connection to aemulus, rival or one who strives, is the reading usually printed and is a guess of the same kind the Romans themselves made about their own names. The German Amalia, from a word for work, is a separate name that English merged with this one in the eighteenth century.
How the name formed
- Aemilia
- Emilia
- Émilie
- Emelie
Related forms: Émilie · Emelie · Emily · Emilia · Emilia
Pronouncing Emelie
EM-uh-lee
Three syllables, stress in front. Swedish says EH-meh-lee with fuller vowels and French ay-mee-LEE with the weight at the end.
Nicknames for Emelie
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 girls named
- 200470 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #547reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −3.8%25 in 2025, from 26
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.
Emelie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Émilie in French — same name
- Emelie in Swedish — same name
- Emily in English — same name
- Emilia in Italian — same name
- Emilia in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Emelies among us
people named Emelie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 64,291 born in 2025 was named Emelie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Emelie 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 Emelie is headed
Emelie should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Emelie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Emelie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is the same name as Emily, so it is legible everywhere while looking distinct.
- Em and Emmy are ready short forms that need no explaining.
- It carries a documented Roman family and a saint's cult behind it.
- Emily is the standard English spelling and will be written instead constantly.
- Emelie, Emilie, Emely and Emalee are all in use and near-identical in speech.
- Emily was among the most-given names in the country for years, so the sound is everywhere.
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What they receive
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Emelie
Feminine · #5099 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Emelies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Emelie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Emelie in 2025?
- Emelie ranks #5099 among US girl names in 2025, with 25 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Emelie?
- About 1 in every 64,291 US girls born in 2025 was named Emelie — 25 in all.
- Will my child share the name Emelie with classmates?
- Emelie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Emelie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Loraine#5099 · Delfina#5099 · Hali#5099 · Mecca#5099 · Zoi#5099 · Afia#5099 · Binta#5099 · Janette#5099
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emelie? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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