Top 30 US name Girls' name Peak 1999 890,970 births

Emily — #25 US girls' name

890,970 babies named Emily in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1999. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s33681890s54761900s64231910s170691920s187541930s119161940s134091950s128401960s123341970s468431980s1317701990s2372602000s2237552010s1176262020s32127
#25
of 17,661 girls in use

More common than 99.9% of names given to girls today.

1990s
Peak decade

27% of everyone ever named Emily was born in this single decade.

1999
Single peak year

26,542 babies were named Emily in 1999 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Emily

The Social Security Administration has registered 890,970 babies named Emily between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Emily currently holds the #25 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1999, when 26,542 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Emily performed strongest in the 1990s, accumulating 237,260 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Emily shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 97,981 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Emily in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Emily in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 890,970 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Emily at a glance

Top 100 girls' name

Total births

890,970

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

1999

26,542 births that year

Strongest decade: 1990s

Current rank

#25

In the top 100

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Emily popularity over time — girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880

Top 100 girls' name
Peak year (1999)
26,542
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-10,000010,00020,00030,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 210

Emily popularity over time — boys

1,799 total births recorded since 1896 (Emily as boys' name)

Unisex variant — 1,799 births
-50050100150 202420132003199319831973194019261896 5

Emily by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1990s
Peak decade
1990s
237,260 births that decade — 27% of Emily's all-time total
1880s33681890s54761900s64231910s170691920s187541930s119161940s134091950s128401960s123341970s468431980s1317701990s2372602000s2237552010s1176262020s32127

Emily by state

Where Emily concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Emily
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
97,981 11.0%
#2 Texas
66,727 7.5%
#3 New York
59,458 6.7%
#4 Pennsylvania
42,253 4.7%
#5 Illinois
40,628 4.6%
#6 Ohio
38,784 4.4%
#7 Florida
36,648 4.1%
#8 Michigan
30,767 3.5%
California share of Emily's total US births 11.0%
Even split

97,981 of 890,970 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Emily appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Emily?
890,970 babies have been named Emily since 1880. It currently ranks #25 among girls. The peak year was 1999 with 26,542 births.
When was Emily most popular?
Emily was most popular in the 1990s decade with 237,260 total births. The single peak year was 1999.
Where is Emily most popular?
The top states for the name Emily are California (97,981 births), Texas (66,727 births), New York (59,458 births).
How long has the name Emily been used?
Emily has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Emily?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Emilia, Emilie, Emilee, Emi, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Keep exploring Emily

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Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.