Ember
Derived from the English word "ember" referring to small, glowing fragments of coal or wood.
Name Census estimates that about 20,827 living Americans carry the first name Ember. It sits at #137 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Ember today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ember births was 2024 (2,210 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ember. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ember with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Ember is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 389 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Ember is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
21K
~ 1 in 16,457 Americans
Peak year
2024
2,210 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#137
Tracked since 1946
Census
Ember in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,924 people with the first name Ember, which placed it at #2,328 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
#2,328
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
10,924 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ember
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ember is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.9%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Ember 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 Ember at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.3% · 8,441
- Hispanic or Latino9.9% · 1,083
- Two or more races8.5% · 928
- Black or African American2.1% · 229
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 154
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 89
Gender
Gender distribution for Ember
Ember leans heavily female at 98.2% of total registrations, but 389 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ember as a male name
- Ranked #3,168 in 2024
- 38 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (57 births)
Ember as a female name
- Ranked #137 in 2024
- 2,172 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (2,172 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ember leans strongly female. 10,663 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 262 male bearers (2.4%).
Popularity
Ember: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ember from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 9,225 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ember 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 Ember during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Embers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Ember, while Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 380 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ember
The name Ember has its origins in the English language and is derived from the Old English word "æmyrian," meaning "to burn in ashes." This connection to fire and burning embers gives the name a unique and evocative meaning.
In Old English literature, the word "æmyrian" was used to describe the burning of materials, such as wood or coal, until they were reduced to glowing embers. The name Ember likely emerged as a way to capture this vivid imagery and associate it with a person.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Ember can be found in the 16th century. Ember Halliday was a prominent English merchant who lived in London during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was known for his successful trading ventures and philanthropic contributions to the city.
In the 17th century, Ember Wilkins was a notable English botanist and naturalist. She wrote extensively on the flora and fauna of the English countryside and is credited with discovering several new plant species.
During the 18th century, Ember Nightingale was a celebrated English opera singer who performed at the Theatre Royal in London. Her powerful voice and captivating stage presence earned her widespread acclaim and admiration from audiences across Europe.
In the 19th century, Ember Browning was a renowned English poet and author. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. She is considered one of the most influential poets of the Victorian era.
Another notable figure with the name Ember was Ember Radcliffe, an English suffragette who fought tirelessly for women's right to vote in the early 20th century. She was a powerful orator and activist, and her efforts contributed to the eventual passage of the Representation of the People Act in 1918.
While the name Ember has its roots in Old English, it has gained popularity in recent years as a unique and meaningful choice for baby names. Its connection to fire and burning embers gives it a sense of strength, passion, and warmth, making it an attractive option for parents seeking a distinctive and evocative name for their child.
People
Ember + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ember 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
Ember: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ember?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 20,827 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ember 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 16,457 US residents.
Is Ember a common name?
We classify Ember as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,059 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ember most popular?
The single biggest year for Ember was 2024, when 2,210 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ember is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ember in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,924 people with the name Ember, or 3.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,328 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 Ember 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 Ember?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ember leans strongly female. 10,663 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 262 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Ember?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ember is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.9%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Ember most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ember in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.3% (8,441 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 Ember in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ember a female name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Ember 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 Ember still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ember 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 Ember 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 are called Ember?
You can see how many people have the name Ember on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.