Emery
Masculine
Emery is given to both — 20,412 boys and 43,837 girls since 1880. See Emery as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Emery came into English with the Normans as a man's name, settled into a surname, and has spent the last stretch of its life mostly on girls — one word, one root, two roads through the same three syllables. It softens as you say it: EM-uh-ree, ending on the same light vowel that Avery and Ivy end on. Behind it stands a blunt old Germanic compound about power, worn smooth by a thousand years of use.
How old is the name Emery?
Emery was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Emery alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 12,000 people named Emery are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emery most popular?
Emery peaked in 1881, reaching #208 nationally. Today it ranks #814, 606 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Amalric to Emery
The story of Emery
The name begins as a Continental Germanic compound — Amalric, or Emmerich in its German shape — and traveled to England with the Normans in the eleventh century, where it was written Emeri, Emery and Emory. Like most Norman given names it hardened into a surname, and it is as a surname that it kept going through centuries when almost nobody used it up front. The same root produced Latin Emericus, Hungarian Imre, and the Italian Amerigo. Its return as a first name in the United States, and its move to the girls' side, are both recent developments in a very long story.
Meaningscholars disagree
'power' joined to an older first element — most often read as work or labor, sometimes as whole or universal
Emery goes back to a Germanic compound ending in -ric, 'power, ruler'. The first element is disputed: many read it as amal, 'work, labor, effort' (giving Amalric), others as ermen, 'whole, universal' (giving Ermenrich). Both are serious readings and both were live names in early medieval Europe, which is part of why the question stays open.
How the name formed
- Amalric
- Emmerich
- Emericus
- Emeri
- Emery
Related forms: Emmerich · Imre · Amerigo · Amaury · Emory · Emmerik
Pronouncing Emery
EM-uh-ree
Three syllables with the stress on the first. In fast speech the middle vowel often collapses and it comes out as EM-ree, which nobody minds.
Nicknames for Emery
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
- 2022357 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #208reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- −14.6%305 in 2025, from 357
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.
Emery in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Emmerich in German — same name
- Imre in Hungarian — related form
- Amerigo in Italian — related form
- Amaury in French — related form
- Emory in English (US variant) — spelling variant
- Emmerik in Dutch — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Emerys among us
people named Emery are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 5,600 born in 2025 was named Emery
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
Emery 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 Emery is headed
Emery 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.
Emery beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Emery in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Both spellings, Emery and Emory, are already familiar to Americans as surnames and place names, so it is read correctly on sight.
- Short forms are ready-made: Em and Emmy need no explanation and work at every age.
- A documented line running from early medieval Germanic through Norman England to the present — few modern-sounding names have a record this long.
- Cognates exist across German, Hungarian, Italian and French, so relatives abroad will recognize the shape.
- Used for both girls and boys, so the name does not have to be decided before the child is.
- Emery and Emory are both established spellings, and the one you choose will be swapped by other people fairly often. Worth deciding early which you will correct and which you will let go.
- Emery is also an ordinary English word — the abrasive mineral on an emery board. Most people never make the connection out loud, but a few will.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls. A boy named Emery is on solid historical ground, since the name was a man's for most of its life, but he will likely be the only one he meets.
- The name is climbing quickly, so a child born now may find it more common among younger kids than it is among their own classmates.
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What they receive
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Emery
Masculine · #814 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Emerys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,000 people named Emery are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Emery in 2025?
- Emery ranks #814 among US boy names in 2025, with 305 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Emery?
- About 1 in every 5,600 US boys born in 2025 was named Emery — 305 in all.
- Will my child share the name Emery with classmates?
- Emery will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Emery
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Benedict#814 · Yahir#814 · Jrue#817 · Yael#817 · Ty#810 · Rohan#810 · Brock#810 · Jones#810
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emery? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Emery and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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