Eme
A Nigerian name meaning "I am here" or "I exist".
Name Census estimates that about 47 living Americans carry the first name Eme. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Eme today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eme births was 2012 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eme. 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 Eme with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Eme. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
47
~ 1 in 7,292,645 Americans
Peak year
2012
9 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2017 SSA rank
#13,130
Tracked since 2004
Census
Eme in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 277 people with the first name Eme, which placed it at #31,090 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
#31,090
National first-name rank
People counted
277
277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
35.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eme
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eme is Black at 35.4%. The next largest groups are White (28.5%) and Hispanic (19.9%). 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 Eme 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 Eme at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American35.4% · 98
- White28.5% · 79
- Hispanic or Latino19.9% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.5% · 29
- Two or more races5.4% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Eme: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eme from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 28 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
Eme 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 Eme 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 Eme
The name Eme has its origins in the Yoruba language, spoken predominantly in southwestern Nigeria and parts of the neighboring countries of Benin and Togo. The name is derived from the Yoruba word "ẹmí," which means "spirit" or "soul." It is believed to have first emerged as a given name during the medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Eme can be found in the Odu Ifa, a sacred literary corpus of the Yoruba people, which contains a vast collection of oral traditions, poetry, and mythological stories. The name is mentioned in several of these ancient texts, often associated with spiritual concepts and the importance of maintaining a balanced and harmonious relationship with the natural world.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Eme. One prominent figure was Eme Ekpu, a renowned Yoruba sculptor and wood carver who lived in the late 18th century. His intricate and highly detailed works, which often depicted spiritual figures and deities, are considered masterpieces of Yoruba art and have been exhibited in museums around the world.
Another historical figure bearing the name Eme was Eme Oziri, a Nigerian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 1960s. He played a crucial role in shaping Nigeria's foreign policy during the early years of the country's independence and was instrumental in establishing diplomatic ties with various nations.
In the realm of literature, Eme Okobi was a celebrated Nigerian poet and writer of the 20th century. Her works, which often explored themes of identity, culture, and the complexities of the human experience, earned her numerous accolades and a prominent place in the canon of Nigerian literature.
A more contemporary figure was Eme Udoka, a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who enjoyed a successful career in the NBA, playing for teams such as the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers between 2003 and 2011.
Lastly, Eme Ese was a prominent Nigerian environmentalist and activist who dedicated her life to raising awareness about the negative impact of oil exploration on the Niger Delta region. Her tireless efforts to protect the environment and advocate for the rights of local communities earned her international recognition and numerous awards.
While these examples highlight the diverse individuals who have borne the name Eme throughout history, the name's deep roots in the Yoruba culture and its spiritual connotations continue to imbue it with a sense of reverence and connection to the natural world.
People
Eme + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eme 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
Eme: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eme?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 47 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eme 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 7,292,645 US residents.
Is Eme a common name?
We classify Eme as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eme most popular?
The single biggest year for Eme was 2012, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eme is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eme in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 277 people with the name Eme, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,090 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 Eme 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 Eme?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eme leans strongly female. 242 people counted with this name were female (85.8%), compared with 40 male bearers (14.2%). 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 Eme?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eme is Black at 35.4%. The next largest groups are White (28.5%) and Hispanic (19.9%). 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 Eme most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Eme in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.4% (98 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 Eme in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eme a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eme 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 Eme still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eme 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 Eme 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 Eme?
Find out how many people share the name Eme on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.