Emmett
Masculine · “whole”
Emmett is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 78,564 boys against 308 girls since 1880.
Emmett began as a surname, and behind that surname stands a woman: Emmet was one of the ways medieval English speakers made a pet form of Emma. Families who bore the name passed it down until it crossed back over into a first name, which is why a name that sounds so plainly masculine in American use has a feminine diminutive at its root. Two syllables, the stress landing first, ending in a crisp t — it says itself the same way in every accent that meets it.
How old is the name Emmett?
Emmett was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Emmett is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 59,500 people named Emmett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Emmett most popular?
Emmett peaked in 2021, reaching #103 nationally. Today it ranks #121, 18 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
From Emma to Emmett
The story of Emmett
The line runs from Germanic Emma into medieval England, where Emma was so common that speakers trimmed it into Emmet and Emmott as everyday pet forms. Those pet forms hardened into hereditary surnames, and from the surname pool English and Irish-American families drew a first name — the same route that gave us Everett and Elliott. It has been on American birth records continuously since the earliest years those records exist, quietly held by one generation after another rather than surging and vanishing. Its best-known American bearer, Emmett Till, was murdered in Mississippi in 1955; the case became one of the sparks of the civil rights movement, and his name is part of that history now.
Meaning
whole, universal — through Emma
Emmett is the English surname formed from Emmet or Emmott, a medieval diminutive of Emma; Emma itself comes from the Germanic element ermin, irmin, meaning whole or universal. The -et ending is the old affectionate suffix, not part of the meaning.
Cultural footprint
Emmett Till (b. 1941) — His 1955 murder galvanized the civil rights movement
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Emma
- Emmet
- Emmott
- Emmett
Related forms: Emmet · Emmitt · Emmott · Emma
Pronouncing Emmett
EM-it
Stress on the first syllable. The second syllable is light, close to -it rather than -ett; British and American speakers land in the same place.
Nicknames for Emmett
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20193,555 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #103reached in 2021
- Change vs 2022
- −11.3%2,950 in 2025, from 3,324
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.
Emmett in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Emmet in Irish English — spelling variant
- Emmitt in English — spelling variant
- Emmott in Middle English — related form
- Emma in English, German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio. International figures from Statistics Canada. Sources
Emmetts among us
people named Emmett are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 579 born in 2025 was named Emmett
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Alexis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Emmett's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alexis climbed just as high around 2004, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alexis's path sketches the road Emmett is walking now.
Emmett 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 Emmett is headed
Emmett 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.
Emmett beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Emmett in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An unbroken run on American birth records from the earliest years such records were kept — long history, no gap.
- Two syllables, phonetic spelling, no silent letters: most people get it right by ear on the first try.
- Familiar enough to need no explanation, uncommon enough that a child is unlikely to share it in a classroom.
- Also charts in Canada, so it travels across the border without adjustment.
- Shortens naturally to Em, and works equally well left at full length.
- Three spellings compete — Emmett, Emmet and Emmitt — so expect to spell it aloud reasonably often, even though the pronunciation never wavers.
- The name is tied in American memory to Emmett Till. Some families choose it partly for that reason; others would rather not carry the association. Either way, it is worth knowing it will occur to people.
- Em- names are thick on the ground right now, so Emmett can blur with Emma, Emmy, Emerson and Emily in a group of children, particularly at the nickname stage.
- Despite its old roots, the name's current wave is recent, so most Emmetts alive are young — it will read as a contemporary choice rather than an inherited one.
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What they receive
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Emmett
Masculine · #121 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Emmetts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 59,500 people named Emmett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Emmett in 2025?
- Emmett ranks #121 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,950 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Emmett?
- About 1 in every 579 US boys born in 2025 was named Emmett — 2,950 in all.
- Will my child share the name Emmett with classmates?
- Emmett will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Emmett
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Graham#120 · Sawyer#122 · Giovanni#123 · Milo#119 · Callum#118 · Carson#124 · Lorenzo#117 · Dean#125
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Emmett? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Emmett and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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