Emily
Masculine · “Latin”
Emily is given to girls far more often — 896,487 girls against 1,809 boys since 1880. See Emily as a girl name
Emily means rival. The Roman family name Aemilius, from which it comes, is generally traced to aemulus — a competitor, someone striving against another — which is not what most people expect from one of the gentlest-sounding names in English.
How old is the name Emily?
Emily first appears in US birth records in 1896 — 129 years ago. The typical Emily alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 1,600 people named Emily are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emily most popular?
Emily peaked in 1896, reaching #1101 nationally. Today it ranks #7679, 6,578 places below that high. See the whole 1896 chart.
Where it comes from
From Aemilius to Emily
The story of Emily
The gens Aemilia was one of the oldest patrician families of Rome and gave its name to the Via Aemilia, the road from Rimini to Piacenza built in 187 BC, and to the modern Italian region Emilia-Romagna. The name entered English through Chaucer's Emelye in The Knight's Tale and through Italian usage, and became a standard English women's name in the eighteenth century. The masculine forms Emil and Émile stayed continental. American male figures under the Emily spelling peak in 1896, at a period when clerks recorded continental names by ear and the sex field was frequently in error.
Meaningscholars disagree
Latin, probably "rival, striving"
Aemilia is the feminine of Aemilius, a major Roman gens name usually connected to aemulus, rival or emulous. The derivation is not certain, as with most Roman family names. Emily is separate from Amelia, which is Germanic, from the Amali dynastic element, despite the two being routinely confused in English. The male figures for Emily in the American record are thin and largely reflect Emil and Émile.
How the name formed
- Aemilius
- Aemilia
- Emily
Related forms: Émile · Emil · Emilio · Emilio
Pronouncing Emily
EM-uh-lee
Three syllables, stress on the first. Émile is ay-MEEL in French, two syllables with the stress at the end; Emil is AY-mil in German. All are the same Roman name.
Nicknames for Emily
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
- 1896
- Most boys named
- 2004120 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1101reached in 1896
- Change vs 2023
- +11.1%10 in 2025, 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.
Emily in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Émile in French — related form
- Emil in German — related form
- Emilio in Italian — related form
- Emilio in Spanish — related form
Emilys among us
people named Emily are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 170,808 born in 2025 was named Emily
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
Emily 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
Emily beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Emily in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It descends from a major and well-documented Roman family.
- Em and Emmy are immediate short forms.
- The masculine equivalents Emil and Émile are settled across Europe.
- In America the name is overwhelmingly female.
- It is routinely confused with Amelia, which is a different name.
- The Latin derivation is not fully settled.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Emily 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 Emily? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Emily
Masculine · #7679 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Emilys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Emily are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Emily in 2025?
- Emily ranks #7679 among US boy names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Emily?
- About 1 in every 170,808 US boys born in 2025 was named Emily — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Emily with classmates?
- Emily will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Emily
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Early#7679 · Obie#7679 · Huston#7679 · Knute#7679 · Rance#7679 · Blain#7679 · Doyle#7679 · Millard#7679
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emily? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Emily 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