Emalene
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially relating to emerald or alene.
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Emalene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emalene today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emalene births was 1917 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emalene. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Emalene. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1917
7 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,517
Tracked since 1917
Census
Emalene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 104 people with the first name Emalene, which placed it at #52,876 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
#52,876
National first-name rank
People counted
104
104 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emalene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emalene is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.6%) and Black (5.8%). 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 Emalene 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 Emalene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.0% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 10
- Black or African American5.8% · 6
- Two or more races3.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 3
Popularity
Emalene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emalene from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 33 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Emalene remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emalene 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 Emalene 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 Emalene
Emalene is a feminine given name of uncertain origin. It is likely a modern invented name, possibly influenced by other names such as Emmeline or Emaline. There is little historical evidence of the name's usage or origins, making its true etymology difficult to trace.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Emalene date back to the late 19th century in some parts of the United States. It was a relatively uncommon name during this time period and did not gain significant popularity until the 20th century.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Emalene was Emalene Benson (1879-1965), an American teacher and writer from Illinois. Benson authored several books on education and child development during her career.
Another notable figure with the name Emalene was Emalene Morrison (1888-1964), a Canadian author and journalist. She wrote for various publications in the early 20th century and published several books, including a novel titled "The Jade Cup" in 1924.
In the realm of entertainment, Emalene Lindsey (1901-1986) was an American vaudeville performer and actress who appeared in several Broadway productions and films during the 1920s and 1930s.
Emalene Sirmay (1917-2005) was a Hungarian-American artist and sculptor known for her abstract works. She had a long and successful career, with her art being featured in numerous exhibitions and collections.
Emalene Pringle (1925-2019) was a British painter and printmaker who was part of the St Ives art colony in Cornwall, UK. Her works were exhibited extensively throughout her lifetime and are held in various public collections.
While the name Emalene has been in use for over a century, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to more traditional names. Its obscure origins and lack of significant historical references make it a unique and enigmatic choice for a given name.
People
Emalene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emalene 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
Emalene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emalene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emalene 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Emalene a common name?
We classify Emalene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emalene most popular?
The single biggest year for Emalene was 1917, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emalene is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emalene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 104 people with the name Emalene, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,876 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 Emalene 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 Emalene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emalene appears almost entirely female. Of the 102 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 Emalene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emalene is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.6%) and Black (5.8%). 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 Emalene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Emalene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.0% (78 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 Emalene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emalene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emalene 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 Emalene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emalene 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 Emalene 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 have the name Emalene?
See how many Americans are named Emalene on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.