Emily
Emily was given to 5,451 girls in 2025, #34 among girls’ names; 898,296 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 813,000 Americans named Emily and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (91% of everyone recorded); the median is 28 years old and half are between 19 and 37.
Emily is the #11 most common first name among living American women and girls, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Emily by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Emily mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Emily is “a female given name from Latin.” Its etymology gives the sense “rival, emulator” (aemulus).
English form of Latin Aemilia, a gens name from aemulus (“rival, emulator”).
/ˈɛm.ə.li/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Emily?
#34 among girls’ names, 2025
Emily fell from #8 in 2015 to #34 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 6.6 to 3.4 per 1,000.
26,587 babies in 1999, the peak
Emily peaked in 1999, when 26,587 babies were given it (26,542 girls, #1 among girls’ names). The 5,461 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 21% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5,451 | #34 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 5,984 | #25 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 6,177 | #19 | 3.8 |
| 2022 | 6,498 | #17 | 4.0 |
| 2021 | 6,594 | #21 | 4.0 |
| 2020 | 6,918 | #18 | 4.3 |
| 2019 | 8,259 | #12 | 4.9 |
| 2018 | 8,718 | #12 | 5.1 |
| 2017 | 9,817 | #12 | 5.7 |
| 2016 | 11,006 | #9 | 6.2 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 11,808 | #8 | 6.6 |
| 2014 | 12,670 | #7 | 7.1 |
| 2013 | 13,144 | #7 | 7.5 |
| 2012 | 13,666 | #6 | 7.8 |
| 2011 | 14,277 | #6 | 8.1 |
| 2010 | 14,281 | #6 | 8.0 |
| 2009 | 15,366 | #6 | 8.4 |
| 2008 | 17,448 | #3 | 9.2 |
| 2007 | 19,367 | #1 | 10.1 |
| 2006 | 21,412 | #1 | 11.3 |
| 2005 | 23,952 | #1 | 13.0 |
| 2004 | 25,042 | #1 | 13.6 |
| 2003 | 25,693 | #1 | 14.1 |
| 2002 | 24,470 | #1 | 13.6 |
| 2001 | 25,059 | #1 | 13.9 |
| 2000 | 25,959 | #1 | 14.3 |
| 1999 | 26,542 | #1 | 15.0 |
| 1998 | 26,188 | #1 | 14.8 |
| 1997 | 25,734 | #1 | 14.8 |
| 1996 | 25,150 | #1 | 14.3 |
| 1995 | 24,382 | #3 | 13.9 |
| 1994 | 24,154 | #3 | 13.5 |
| 1993 | 23,596 | #5 | 13.0 |
| 1992 | 21,835 | #7 | 11.8 |
| 1991 | 20,311 | #10 | 10.8 |
| 1990 | 19,370 | #12 | 10.2 |
| 1989 | 17,323 | #13 | 9.4 |
| 1988 | 15,869 | #18 | 8.9 |
| 1987 | 14,710 | #19 | 8.5 |
| 1986 | 13,236 | #24 | 7.7 |
| 1985 | 13,144 | #24 | 7.6 |
| 1984 | 12,786 | #24 | 7.6 |
| 1983 | 12,377 | #25 | 7.4 |
| 1982 | 12,519 | #24 | 7.4 |
| 1981 | 10,799 | #29 | 6.5 |
| 1980 | 9,001 | #31 | 5.4 |
| 1979 | 7,971 | #34 | 5.0 |
| 1978 | 7,473 | #33 | 4.9 |
| 1977 | 6,879 | #37 | 4.5 |
| 1976 | 5,547 | #50 | 3.8 |
| 1975 | 5,482 | #48 | 3.8 |
| 1974 | 4,329 | #69 | 2.9 |
| 1973 | 3,027 | #99 | 2.1 |
| 1972 | 2,334 | #131 | 1.5 |
| 1971 | 1,866 | #166 | 1.1 |
| 1970 | 1,931 | #173 | 1.1 |
| 1969 | 1,575 | #198 | 0.93 |
| 1968 | 1,326 | #225 | 0.81 |
| 1967 | 1,204 | #239 | 0.73 |
| 1966 | 1,249 | #237 | 0.74 |
| 1965 | 1,288 | #238 | 0.73 |
| 1964 | 1,131 | #268 | 0.60 |
| 1963 | 1,108 | #269 | 0.57 |
| 1962 | 1,079 | #273 | 0.55 |
| 1961 | 1,147 | #265 | 0.57 |
| 1960 | 1,225 | #251 | 0.61 |
| 1959 | 1,213 | #251 | 0.60 |
| 1958 | 1,171 | #254 | 0.58 |
| 1957 | 1,207 | #246 | 0.59 |
| 1956 | 1,282 | #230 | 0.64 |
| 1955 | 1,304 | #223 | 0.67 |
| 1954 | 1,342 | #218 | 0.69 |
| 1953 | 1,325 | #220 | 0.70 |
| 1952 | 1,392 | #207 | 0.75 |
| 1951 | 1,287 | #212 | 0.71 |
| 1950 | 1,316 | #203 | 0.77 |
| 1949 | 1,392 | #196 | 0.81 |
| 1948 | 1,391 | #194 | 0.82 |
| 1947 | 1,470 | #187 | 0.83 |
| 1946 | 1,379 | #186 | 0.88 |
| 1945 | 1,134 | #181 | 0.87 |
| 1944 | 1,251 | #170 | 0.94 |
| 1943 | 1,336 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1942 | 1,419 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1941 | 1,368 | #162 | 1.1 |
| 1940 | 1,269 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1939 | 1,292 | #163 | 1.2 |
| 1938 | 1,308 | #164 | 1.2 |
| 1937 | 1,293 | #161 | 1.2 |
| 1936 | 1,123 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 1935 | 1,094 | #173 | 1.0 |
| 1934 | 1,067 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1933 | 1,062 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 1932 | 1,147 | #168 | 1.1 |
| 1931 | 1,186 | #159 | 1.1 |
| 1930 | 1,344 | #154 | 1.2 |
| 1929 | 1,444 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 1928 | 1,559 | #150 | 1.4 |
| 1927 | 1,656 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 1926 | 1,729 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 1925 | 1,767 | #145 | 1.5 |
| 1924 | 2,044 | #136 | 1.6 |
| 1923 | 2,057 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 1922 | 2,146 | #121 | 1.8 |
| 1921 | 2,184 | #121 | 1.8 |
| 1920 | 2,168 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 1919 | 2,307 | #105 | 2.0 |
| 1918 | 2,361 | #105 | 2.0 |
| 1917 | 2,220 | #103 | 2.1 |
| 1916 | 2,213 | #100 | 2.1 |
| 1915 | 2,091 | #99 | 2.1 |
| 1914 | 1,650 | #98 | 2.2 |
| 1913 | 1,386 | #99 | 2.2 |
| 1912 | 1,147 | #105 | 2.1 |
| 1911 | 909 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1910 | 785 | #110 | 2.0 |
| 1909 | 749 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1908 | 732 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1907 | 714 | #100 | 2.2 |
| 1906 | 619 | #104 | 2.1 |
| 1905 | 683 | #100 | 2.3 |
| 1904 | 599 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1903 | 558 | #101 | 2.1 |
| 1902 | 606 | #97 | 2.3 |
| 1901 | 537 | #99 | 2.2 |
| 1900 | 626 | #105 | 2.1 |
| 1899 | 569 | #96 | 2.4 |
| 1898 | 628 | #94 | 2.4 |
| 1897 | 619 | #88 | 2.6 |
| 1896 | 527 | #96 | 2.2 |
| 1895 | 605 | #89 | 2.6 |
| 1894 | 551 | #93 | 2.5 |
| 1893 | 506 | #95 | 2.4 |
| 1892 | 518 | #94 | 2.4 |
| 1891 | 444 | #95 | 2.4 |
| 1890 | 509 | #86 | 2.7 |
| 1889 | 429 | #93 | 2.4 |
| 1888 | 457 | #90 | 2.6 |
| 1887 | 335 | #98 | 2.3 |
| 1886 | 369 | #93 | 2.6 |
| 1885 | 346 | #87 | 2.6 |
| 1884 | 364 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1883 | 342 | #81 | 3.0 |
| 1882 | 272 | #95 | 2.5 |
| 1881 | 244 | #90 | 2.7 |
| 1880 | 210 | #100 | 2.3 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Emily a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Emily has been given almost only to girls: 1,809 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Emily: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Emily, and how old are they?
813,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 91% of the 898,296 Americans ever recorded as Emily. The median Emily alive today is 28 years old; half are between 19 and 37.
The 2020 Census counted 755,529 people named Emily (754,599 women and girls, 930 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 788,009 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 6,710 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 18,600 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 59,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 275,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 341,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 112,000 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Emily born?
The states with the most babies named Emily are California, Texas and Florida, with 38% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 910 | #16 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 687 | #21 | 0.9× |
| Florida | 447 | #18 | 0.9× |
| New York | 318 | #30 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 206 | #18 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 190 | #32 | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 171 | #46 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 154 | #53 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 150 | #47 | 0.9× |
| Washington | 147 | #23 | 1.0× |
Where Emily is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Emily is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1910 it was given 1.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Emily with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,047,154 babies since 1880, Emily is the most given (86% of them). In 2025 it was given to 5,461 of their 11,107 babies (49%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Emily
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Emily and names like it
- Compare Emily and EmiliaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sEmily peaked in 1999.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Emily since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Emily: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1999The year the most babies were named Emily.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Emily alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with EMost given first.