Emalea
Of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from French feminine forms of names containing "Em".
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Emalea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emalea today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emalea births was 2006 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emalea. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
2006
13 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2016 SSA rank
#17,014
Tracked since 1997
Census
Emalea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 136 people with the first name Emalea, which placed it at #47,733 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#47,733
National first-name rank
People counted
136
136 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emalea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emalea is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Emalea described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Emalea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.5% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 8
- Two or more races4.4% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 3
Popularity
Emalea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emalea from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 83 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emalea by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Emalea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emalea
The name Emalea is a relatively modern invention, believed to have been created in the late 20th century. It does not have a clear origin or linguistic root, but is thought to be a combination of the names Emma and Lea. The name Emma has Germanic roots and means "universal" or "whole," while Lea is a Hebrew name meaning "weary" or "tired."
Despite its recent creation, the name Emalea has gained some popularity in certain regions, particularly in the United States and Canada. It is a unique and melodic name that blends elements from different cultural traditions, giving it a sense of distinctiveness and individuality.
While there are no historical records or ancient texts that reference the name Emalea directly, its component names have a long and storied history. Emma, for instance, has been a popular name across Europe for centuries, with notable bearers including Emma of Normandy, Queen of England in the 11th century, and Emma Lazarus, the 19th-century American poet and activist.
As for the name Lea, it has biblical roots and is mentioned in the Old Testament as the name of one of Jacob's wives. Additionally, the name Lea has been popular in various cultures, including Italian and German traditions, where it is often spelled as Leah or Lia.
While Emalea is a relatively new name, it has already been borne by a few notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Emalea Heiselbetz, an American actress born in 1991, who has appeared in various television shows and films. Another notable bearer is Emalea Holbrook, an American musician and songwriter born in 1995, known for her work in the indie rock and pop genres.
Other individuals who have carried the name Emalea include Emalea Anoa'i, a former American professional wrestler born in 1990, and Emalea Milliken, a Canadian artist and sculptor born in 1988. Additionally, Emalea Piper, an American author and educator born in 1975, has written several books on parenting and education.
While the name Emalea is still relatively uncommon, its unique blend of cultural influences and its melodic sound have contributed to its growing popularity in recent decades. As a modern name with a distinctive flair, it stands out as a reflection of our increasingly diverse and interconnected world.
People
Emalea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emalea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Emalea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emalea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emalea going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Emalea a common name?
We classify Emalea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emalea most popular?
The single biggest year for Emalea was 2006, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emalea is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emalea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 136 people with the name Emalea, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,733 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Emalea in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Emalea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emalea appears almost entirely female. Of the 137 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Emalea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emalea is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Emalea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Emalea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.5% (119 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Emalea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emalea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emalea in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Emalea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emalea in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Emalea can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Emalea?
Find out how many people have the name Emalea on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.