Emilya
A feminine name derived from the Roman name Aemilia meaning "industrious" or "eager".
Name Census estimates that about 209 living Americans carry the first name Emilya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emilya today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emilya births was 2018 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emilya. 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 Emilya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
209
~ 1 in 1,639,973 Americans
Peak year
2018
15 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,680
Tracked since 2001
Census
Emilya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 238 people with the first name Emilya, which placed it at #34,342 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
#34,342
National first-name rank
People counted
238
238 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emilya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emilya is White at 56.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.7%) and Black (10.5%). 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 Emilya 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 Emilya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.3% · 134
- Hispanic or Latino19.7% · 47
- Black or African American10.5% · 25
- Two or more races7.6% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 4
Popularity
Emilya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emilya from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 105 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Emilya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emilya 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 Emilya 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 Emilya
The given name Emilya has its origins in the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the Latin word "aemulus," which means "striving" or "rivaling." The name was initially used to describe someone who was ambitious, hardworking, and striving for excellence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Emilya can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentions a woman named Emilya who lived in the 3rd century BC. According to Livy's accounts, Emilya was a respected matron known for her wisdom and virtue.
In the Middle Ages, the name Emilya gained popularity among Christians, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe. It was often associated with the Latin word "humilis," meaning "humble" or "modest," reflecting the virtues of humility and modesty that were highly valued in Christian tradition.
One notable historical figure named Emilya was Emilya de Vichy, a French noblewoman who lived in the 12th century. She was known for her philanthropy and her support of religious orders, founding several monasteries and convents during her lifetime.
Another famous Emilya was Emilya Bassano Lanier, an English poet and musician who lived in the 16th century (c. 1569 - 1645). She is often considered one of the first professional women writers in English literature, and her works explored themes of love, religion, and female identity.
In the 18th century, Emilya Fielding (1707 - 1768) was a renowned English author and dramatist. She wrote several popular novels and plays, including "The Governess" and "The Cry," which tackled social issues and satirized the manners of the time.
During the 19th century, Emilya Dickinson (1830 - 1886), an American poet, gained posthumous fame for her unique style and insightful observations on life, nature, and the human condition. Her collection of poems, published after her death, is now regarded as a seminal work in American literature.
Emilya Zola (1840 - 1902) was a French novelist and playwright who was a prominent figure in the literary movement known as Naturalism. His works, such as the novel "Germinal," explored the harsh realities of working-class life and social injustice, earning him widespread acclaim and influence in the literary world.
People
Emilya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emilya 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
Emilya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emilya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 209 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emilya 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 1,639,973 US residents.
Is Emilya a common name?
We classify Emilya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 211 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emilya most popular?
The single biggest year for Emilya was 2018, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emilya is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emilya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 238 people with the name Emilya, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,342 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 Emilya 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 Emilya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emilya appears almost entirely female. Of the 243 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Emilya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emilya is White at 56.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.7%) and Black (10.5%). 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 Emilya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Emilya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.3% (134 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 Emilya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emilya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emilya 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 Emilya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emilya 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 Emilya 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 Emilya?
See how many people have the name Emilya on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.