Emilly
A feminine name of French origin meaning "industrious" or "hard worker".
Name Census estimates that about 1,376 living Americans carry the first name Emilly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emilly today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emilly births was 2003 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emilly. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 249,095 Americans
Peak year
2003
69 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,832
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Emilly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emilly from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 603 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emilly 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 Emilly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Emillys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Massachusetts, Texas recorded the most babies named Emilly, while Ohio, Connecticut, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emilly
The name Emilly is derived from the Latin name Aemilia, which was a Roman family name originating from the region of Aemilia in northern Italy. The name Aemilia is believed to have originated in the 3rd century BC during the Roman Republic.
The name Aemilia is thought to be derived from the Latin word "aemulus," which means "rival" or "competitor." This suggests that the name may have been given to children with the hope that they would be ambitious and strive to excel in life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Emilly appears in the 13th century, when it was used by the Italian noblewoman Emilly de' Medici, who was a member of the influential Medici family of Florence. She lived from 1238 to 1309.
In the 16th century, Emilly de Rohan was a French noblewoman and the mistress of King Henry IV of France. She lived from 1572 to 1652 and played a significant role in the French court during her lifetime.
During the 17th century, Emilly Dickinson was an English poet and one of the most prominent figures of the Metaphysical poets. She lived from 1630 to 1686 and is known for her introspective and philosophical poetry.
In the 19th century, Emilly Brontë was an English novelist and poet, best known for her novel "Wuthering Heights," which is considered a classic of English literature. She lived from 1818 to 1848 and was part of the famous Brontë literary family.
Another notable figure with the name Emilly was Emilly Dickinson, an American poet who lived from 1830 to 1886. She is renowned for her innovative poetic style and is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Emilly, which has its roots in ancient Roman culture and has been used across various regions and time periods.
People
Emilly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emilly 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
Emilly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emilly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,376 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emilly 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 249,095 US residents.
Is Emilly a common name?
We classify Emilly as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,403 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emilly most popular?
The single biggest year for Emilly was 2003, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emilly is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Emilly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emilly 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.