Emile
Feminine · “rival”
Emile is given to both — 648 girls and 8,641 boys since 1880. See Emile as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Emile is the French form of a Roman family name, and American records hold it for daughters as well as sons — though nearly every child given it is a boy. The most famous book with this title got its author chased out of two countries.
How old is the name Emile?
Emile first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Emile alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 500 people named Emile are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emile most popular?
Emile peaked in 1891, reaching #1332 nationally. See the whole 1891 chart.
Where it comes from
From Aemilius to Emile
The story of Emile
Rousseau's Émile is a book about education written as the life of an imaginary boy, and it made its author a fugitive. The Paris Parlement condemned it and ordered it burned, Geneva did the same, and a warrant was issued for his arrest; he spent years moving between countries. What did the damage was not the education but a section on religion — a long profession of faith by a Savoyard curate, arguing for a natural religion of conscience without revelation, which offended the church and the philosophes at once. The book's actual advice ranges from the influential to the alarming, and Rousseau, who put his own five children into a foundling hospital, was not in a strong position to give it.
Meaningscholars disagree
rival
The Roman family name may be built on a word for rivalry or striving, or it may be Etruscan and unrecoverable like a good many Roman gens names. The eager reading often given for it is a guess rather than a derivation.
How the name formed
- Aemilius
- Émile
Related forms: Émile · Emil · Emilio
Pronouncing Emile
ay-MEEL
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which is the French reading. American families often say EE-myle or eh-MEEL, and all three are heard.
Nicknames for Emile
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
- 1891
- Most girls named
- 198817 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1332reached in 1891
- Change vs 2015
- −33.3%6 in 2018, from 9
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.
Emile in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Émile in French — same name
- Emil in English — same name
- Emilio in Spanish — same name
Emiles among us
people named Emile 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
Emile 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
- It is a standing French name rather than an invented spelling.
- Back stress gives a two-syllable name a firm landing.
- It works in French and English households without adjustment.
- Emil, Emilio and Emily will all be written for it.
- The French and American readings differ in both vowels.
- The record holds this spelling for daughters as well, though almost never.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Emile
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Emiles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Emile are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Emile in 2025?
- Emile is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Emile with classmates?
- Emile 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 Emile? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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