Emilija
A feminine given name of Latin origin meaning "rival" or "diligent worker".
Name Census estimates that about 286 living Americans carry the first name Emilija. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emilija today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emilija births was 2023 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emilija. 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
286
~ 1 in 1,198,442 Americans
Peak year
2023
17 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,080
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Emilija: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emilija from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 116 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Emilija remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emilija 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 Emilija during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Emilijas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Emilija
The given name Emilija originates from the Latin name Aemilia, which was derived from the Roman family name Aemilius. The Aemilii were an ancient patrician family in Rome, and the name is believed to be connected to the Latin word "aemulus," meaning "rival" or "eager."
The name Emilija emerged as a Latinized form of the Germanic name Amelija, which itself was derived from the ancient Germanic name Amal, meaning "work" or "labor." This Germanic root later gave rise to names like Amelia and Emily in various European languages.
In the early Christian era, the name Aemilia was borne by several saints and martyrs, contributing to its popularity among the faithful. One notable example is Saint Aemilia, a Roman martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. Her feast day is celebrated on June 30th.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Emilija can be found in various historical documents from Central and Eastern Europe, where it was commonly used among Slavic populations. Some notable historical figures named Emilija include:
1. Emilija Plater (1806-1831), a Polish-Lithuanian revolutionary and participant in the November Uprising against the Russian Empire.
2. Emilija Pukštelytė (1811-1898), a Lithuanian writer and educator who authored the first Lithuanian novel, "Piršlybos" (The Matchmaking).
3. Emilija Šukytė (1872-1967), a Lithuanian opera singer and vocal teacher, considered one of the founders of the Lithuanian national opera.
4. Emilija Miščytė (1879-1964), a Lithuanian painter and graphic artist, known for her landscapes and still-life works.
5. Emilija Bužinskaitė-Pažemeckienė (1886-1967), a Lithuanian writer and journalist, active in the Lithuanian independence movement.
While the name Emilija has been used throughout history in various regions, it has been particularly popular in Central and Eastern European countries, where it has maintained a strong connection to its Slavic and Latin roots.
People
Emilija + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emilija 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
Emilija: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emilija?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emilija 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 1,198,442 US residents.
Is Emilija a common name?
We classify Emilija as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 289 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emilija most popular?
The single biggest year for Emilija was 2023, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emilija is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Emilija a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emilija 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.
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.