Emilda
A feminine name of Anglo-Saxon origin meaning "labor" or "hardworking".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Emilda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emilda today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emilda births was 1947 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emilda. 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
- • The typical person named Emilda is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Emildas were born before 1968.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Emilda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1947
6 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1977 SSA rank
#10,070
Tracked since 1914
Census
Emilda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 285 people with the first name Emilda, which placed it at #30,528 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
#30,528
National first-name rank
People counted
285
285 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
59.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emilda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emilda is Hispanic at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (23.9%) and White (7.0%). 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 Emilda 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 Emilda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino59.6% · 170
- Asian and Pacific Islander23.9% · 68
- White7.0% · 20
- Black or African American6.7% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 5
- Two or more races1.1% · 3
Popularity
Emilda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emilda from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Emilda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emilda 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 Emilda 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 Emilda
The name Emilda has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old High German words "amal" meaning "work" or "labor" and "hild" meaning "battle" or "fighter." It emerged during the medieval period, around the 9th to 11th centuries, in regions where Germanic tribes settled, such as present-day Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland.
While not directly mentioned in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name Emilda shares similarities with other Germanic names that carry the "hild" element, such as Hildegard and Mathilde, which were popular during the Middle Ages. The earliest recorded examples of the name Emilda can be traced back to the 11th century, where it appears in various historical records and documents from that era.
One notable figure associated with the name Emilda was Emilda of Villich, a 12th-century Benedictine abbess who lived in the Rhineland region of Germany from around 1150 to 1220. She played a significant role in the administration and spiritual guidance of her convent during her time as abbess.
Another historical figure bearing the name Emilda was Emilda of Saxony, a noblewoman from the 13th century who was a member of the House of Wettin, one of the most prominent dynasties in medieval Germany. She lived from approximately 1210 to 1278 and was known for her patronage of the arts and her contributions to the cultural life of her time.
In the 14th century, there was an Italian noble named Emilda de' Rossi, who lived from around 1320 to 1390. She was a member of the powerful Rossi family from Parma and played an important role in the political and social dynamics of her region during the turbulent era of the Italian Renaissance.
During the Renaissance period, another notable figure with the name Emilda was Emilda Pico della Mirandola, an Italian scholar and poet who lived from around 1470 to 1528. She was part of the influential Pico della Mirandola family and was renowned for her intellectual pursuits and contributions to the humanist movement of the time.
In the 17th century, there was an Emilda von Nassauischen, a German noblewoman who lived from approximately 1620 to 1679. She was a member of the House of Nassau, a prominent noble family in Germany, and played a role in the cultural and political affairs of her time.
While the name Emilda has its roots in the Germanic languages and was more prevalent in medieval and early modern Europe, it has since become less common, though variations and derivatives of the name can still be found in various cultures and regions around the world.
People
Emilda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emilda 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
Emilda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emilda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emilda 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Emilda a common name?
We classify Emilda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emilda most popular?
The single biggest year for Emilda was 1947, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emilda is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emilda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 285 people with the name Emilda, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,528 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 Emilda 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 Emilda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emilda appears almost entirely female. Of the 281 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Emilda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emilda is Hispanic at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (23.9%) and White (7.0%). 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 Emilda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Emilda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.6% (170 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 Emilda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emilda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emilda 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 Emilda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emilda 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 Emilda 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 common is the name Emilda?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.