Girl nameCurrently #25 in the USFalling
Emily
EM-uh-lee//ˈɛməli//
3 syllablesPeak year: 19995 lettersStarts with E
Meaning & origin
Rival, industrious
Emily is the English form of the Roman family name Aemilia, from a Latin root plausibly meaning 'rival' or connected to industriousness. It topped the charts for much of the 1990s and 2000s and remains a warm, established classic, closely associated with poet Emily Dickinson and novelist Emily Brontë.
Emily's popularity over time
| Year | Births named Emily |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 210 |
| 1881 | 244 |
| 1882 | 272 |
| 1883 | 342 |
| 1884 | 364 |
| 1885 | 346 |
| 1886 | 369 |
| 1887 | 335 |
| 1888 | 457 |
| 1889 | 429 |
| 1890 | 509 |
| 1891 | 444 |
| 1892 | 518 |
| 1893 | 506 |
| 1894 | 551 |
| 1895 | 605 |
| 1896 | 532 |
| 1897 | 619 |
| 1898 | 628 |
| 1899 | 569 |
| 1900 | 626 |
| 1901 | 537 |
| 1902 | 606 |
| 1903 | 558 |
| 1904 | 599 |
| 1905 | 683 |
| 1906 | 619 |
| 1907 | 714 |
| 1908 | 732 |
| 1909 | 749 |
| 1910 | 785 |
| 1911 | 909 |
| 1912 | 1,153 |
| 1913 | 1,386 |
| 1914 | 1,650 |
| 1915 | 2,091 |
| 1916 | 2,218 |
| 1917 | 2,220 |
| 1918 | 2,361 |
| 1919 | 2,313 |
| 1920 | 2,175 |
| 1921 | 2,190 |
| 1922 | 2,146 |
| 1923 | 2,062 |
| 1924 | 2,051 |
| 1925 | 1,772 |
| 1926 | 1,735 |
| 1927 | 1,667 |
| 1928 | 1,559 |
| 1929 | 1,450 |
| 1930 | 1,354 |
| 1931 | 1,194 |
| 1932 | 1,155 |
| 1933 | 1,062 |
| 1934 | 1,067 |
| 1935 | 1,094 |
| 1936 | 1,130 |
| 1937 | 1,298 |
| 1938 | 1,315 |
| 1939 | 1,300 |
| 1940 | 1,274 |
| 1941 | 1,377 |
| 1942 | 1,426 |
| 1943 | 1,336 |
| 1944 | 1,251 |
| 1945 | 1,141 |
| 1946 | 1,384 |
| 1947 | 1,470 |
| 1948 | 1,391 |
| 1949 | 1,392 |
| 1950 | 1,323 |
| 1951 | 1,287 |
| 1952 | 1,392 |
| 1953 | 1,325 |
| 1954 | 1,342 |
| 1955 | 1,303 |
| 1956 | 1,289 |
| 1957 | 1,207 |
| 1958 | 1,172 |
| 1959 | 1,214 |
| 1960 | 1,226 |
| 1961 | 1,146 |
| 1962 | 1,079 |
| 1963 | 1,108 |
| 1964 | 1,131 |
| 1965 | 1,288 |
| 1966 | 1,249 |
| 1967 | 1,210 |
| 1968 | 1,326 |
| 1969 | 1,576 |
| 1970 | 1,937 |
| 1971 | 1,866 |
| 1972 | 2,344 |
| 1973 | 3,040 |
| 1974 | 4,348 |
| 1975 | 5,499 |
| 1976 | 5,569 |
| 1977 | 6,896 |
| 1978 | 7,494 |
| 1979 | 7,998 |
| 1980 | 9,035 |
| 1981 | 10,847 |
| 1982 | 12,576 |
| 1983 | 12,421 |
| 1984 | 12,839 |
| 1985 | 13,190 |
| 1986 | 13,293 |
| 1987 | 14,762 |
| 1988 | 15,928 |
| 1989 | 17,406 |
| 1990 | 19,421 |
| 1991 | 20,345 |
| 1992 | 21,865 |
| 1993 | 23,639 |
| 1994 | 24,184 |
| 1995 | 24,423 |
| 1996 | 25,184 |
| 1997 | 25,770 |
| 1998 | 26,226 |
| 1999 | 26,587 |
| 2000 | 25,989 |
| 2001 | 25,091 |
| 2002 | 24,503 |
| 2003 | 25,734 |
| 2004 | 25,161 |
| 2005 | 23,983 |
| 2006 | 21,442 |
| 2007 | 19,393 |
| 2008 | 17,471 |
| 2009 | 15,381 |
| 2010 | 14,301 |
| 2011 | 14,288 |
| 2012 | 13,685 |
| 2013 | 13,162 |
| 2014 | 12,678 |
| 2015 | 11,823 |
| 2016 | 11,011 |
| 2017 | 9,818 |
| 2018 | 8,727 |
| 2019 | 8,264 |
| 2020 | 6,925 |
| 2021 | 6,597 |
| 2022 | 6,495 |
| 2023 | 6,181 |
| 2024 | 5,965 |
Emily through the decades
- Emily peaked in 1999, when 26,587 babies were named Emily in the US.
- Over the last 10 years of data (2015–2024), use of Emily has fallen 51% compared to the 10 years before that.
- Emily currently ranks #25 in the US and is cooling off.
Nicknames
EmEmmyMillie
Variants & spellings
EmilieEmalieAmelie
Famous people named Emily
- Emily Dickinson — poet