Emmaline
An English feminine name derived from Germanic meaning "whole" or "universal".
Name Census estimates that about 6,056 living Americans carry the first name Emmaline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emmaline today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emmaline births was 2014 (312 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emmaline. 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 Emmaline with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Emmaline is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.1K
~ 1 in 56,597 Americans
Peak year
2014
312 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,198
Tracked since 1880
Census
Emmaline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,711 people with the first name Emmaline, which placed it at #4,094 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
#4,094
National first-name rank
People counted
4.7K
4,711 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emmaline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emmaline is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Emmaline 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 Emmaline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.1% · 3,869
- Two or more races6.2% · 290
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 273
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 124
- Black or African American2.5% · 120
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 35
Popularity
Emmaline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emmaline from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,807 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Emmaline remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emmaline 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 Emmaline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Emmalines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Texas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Emmaline, while Nebraska, Mississippi, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 112 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emmaline
The name Emmaline is a feminine given name with origins tracing back to the Late Latin word Aemilia. This word derives from the Roman family name Aemilius, which may have roots in the Latin word aemulus, meaning "rival." Aemilius was the name of a distinguished Roman family noted for producing many consuls and other high-ranking officials.
In the 8th century, the name Emma emerged as a vernacular form of Aemilia and became widely used across medieval Europe. Emmaline arose as a diminutive or variant form of Emma, incorporating the French feminine suffix -line or -lina. This suffix was frequently added to names in French and other Romance languages to create affectionate or diminutive forms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Emmaline can be found in the 13th-century French epic poem "Roman de la Rose." In this work, the character Emmelyne represents a virtuous and beautiful woman. The name also appears in various historical records and literature from the Middle Ages onward.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Emmaline. One example is Emmaline Pankhurst (1858-1928), a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement, who played a pivotal role in securing women's right to vote. Another is Emmaline Henry (1892-1979), an American singer and actress who performed on Broadway and in vaudeville.
In the 19th century, Emmaline Wollstonecraft Shelley (1795-1853), the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft and Percy Bysshe Shelley, was a renowned writer and advocate for women's rights. Emmaline Binnie (1800-1866) was a Scottish author and philanthropist known for her work in establishing schools and promoting education.
More recently, Emmaline Lear (1918-2003) was an American writer and journalist who covered the civil rights movement and other social issues. She was also the first female columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
While the name Emmaline has seen periods of greater and lesser popularity over the centuries, its enduring presence in various cultures and historical contexts attests to its timeless quality and appeal.
People
Emmaline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emmaline 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
Emmaline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emmaline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,056 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emmaline 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 56,597 US residents.
Is Emmaline a common name?
We classify Emmaline as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,238 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emmaline most popular?
The single biggest year for Emmaline was 2014, when 312 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emmaline is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emmaline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,711 people with the name Emmaline, or 1.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,094 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 Emmaline 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 Emmaline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emmaline appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,710 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Emmaline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emmaline is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Emmaline most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Emmaline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (3,869 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 Emmaline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emmaline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emmaline 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 Emmaline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emmaline 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 Emmaline 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 have Emmaline as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.