Emmanuela
Feminine · “God with us”
Manuela drops the front of the sentence. Emmanuela does not: it keeps immanu, with us, joined to El, God, and so it says the whole thing the prophecy says, while the shorter form keeps only the divine half.
How old is the name Emmanuela?
Emmanuela first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Emmanuela alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 700 people named Emmanuela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emmanuela most popular?
Emmanuela peaked in 1984, reaching #4478 nationally. Today it ranks #6546, 2,068 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Immanuel to Emmanuela
The story of Emmanuela
The name is a quotation. Isaiah tells Ahaz that a child will be called Immanuel, and Matthew applies the verse to the birth of Jesus, which is why the name entered Christian use as a name of Christ rather than as an ordinary given name. Greece, Portugal and Spain used it most, and the Iberian shortening to Manuel became so complete that the full form is now the rarer of the two. Emmanuela is the feminine of the unshortened version, used in Italian, Greek and, increasingly, in Haitian and West African Catholic naming, which is where most of the American bearers come from; its best year in United States records is 1984.
Meaning
God with us
Hebrew Immanuel combines immanu, with us, and El, God, from the prophecy in Isaiah quoted in the Gospel of Matthew. The Iberian short form Manuel removes the first element, so the shortened name means simply God, or rather is a fragment; the full form preserves the clause. This is the feminine of the full form.
How the name formed
- Immanuel
- Emmanuel
- Emmanuela
Related forms: Emanuela · Emmanouela · Emanuela · Emmanuelle · Manuela
Pronouncing Emmanuela
eh-man-WEH-lah
Four or five syllables depending on how the ua is treated, with the stress on the WEH. English speakers usually say ih-man-yoo-EL-uh, which adds a syllable.
Nicknames for Emmanuela
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
- 1980
- Most girls named
- 201531 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4478reached in 1984
- Change vs 2024
- +21.4%17 in 2025, from 14
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.
Emmanuela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Emanuela in Italian — same name
- Emmanouela in Greek — same name
- Emanuela in Portuguese — same name
- Emmanuelle in French — same name
- Manuela in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida.
Emmanuelas among us
people named Emmanuela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 94,545 born in 2025 was named Emmanuela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Emmanuela
- #6546
- Emmanuela on the 2025 chart
- #868
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Emmanuela went to 17 girls in 2025, but Emmanuella, Emanuela and Emanuella are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 92, which makes it the 868th most-given girls’ name of the year — 5,678 places above the chart.
- Emmanuella54
- Emmanuela17
- Emanuela12
- Emanuella9
About 1 girl in 17,470 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 94,545 for Emmanuela 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 Sharmayne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Emmanuela's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sharmayne climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sharmayne's path sketches the road Emmanuela is walking now.
Emmanuela 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
Emmanuela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Emmanuela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Hebrew meaning that is a complete sentence, kept intact.
- Manu, Emma and Ella are three short forms in three different registers.
- Recognized across Italy, Greece, Portugal, France and West Africa.
- Emanuela with one m is the Italian and Portuguese standard.
- Five syllables will be shortened immediately in American use.
- The name is a title of Christ, which some families weigh carefully.
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What they receive
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Emmanuela
Feminine · #6546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Emmanuelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Emmanuela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Emmanuela?
- Emmanuela is one of 4 recorded spellings. Emmanuella is the more common one — 54 births in 2025 against 17 for Emmanuela.
- How popular is the name Emmanuela in 2025?
- Emmanuela ranks #6546 among US girl names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Emmanuela?
- About 1 in every 94,545 US girls born in 2025 was named Emmanuela — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Emmanuela with classmates?
- Emmanuela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Emmanuela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseann#6546 · Solveig#6546 · Elona#6546 · Rosette#6546 · Bradie#6546 · Rida#6546 · Gwendalyn#6546 · Lorene#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emmanuela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Emmanuela and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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