Emmanuela
Hebrew feminine name meaning "God is with us".
Name Census estimates that about 688 living Americans carry the first name Emmanuela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emmanuela today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emmanuela births was 2015 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emmanuela. 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
688
~ 1 in 498,189 Americans
Peak year
2015
31 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,682
Tracked since 1980
Popularity
Emmanuela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emmanuela from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 231 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
Emmanuela 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 Emmanuela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Emmanuelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Emmanuela, while New Jersey, Texas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emmanuela
Emmanuela is a feminine given name derived from the Hebrew name Immanu El, which means "God is with us." The name has its origins in ancient Hebrew culture and can be traced back to biblical times.
The name first appeared in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, where it was used as a prophetic title for the newborn Jesus Christ. It was a symbolic name meant to convey the belief that God had become incarnate in human form.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Emmanuela, a 4th-century Christian martyr who was executed during the Diocletian persecution in Rome. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
In the Middle Ages, the name Emmanuela was relatively uncommon but still used occasionally in Christian communities across Europe. Notable bearers include Emmanuela of Valencia, a 13th-century Spanish mystic and religious writer (c. 1230-1282).
During the Renaissance, the name gained some popularity in Italy and other parts of southern Europe. One notable figure was Emmanuela Gambara (c. 1485-1550), an Italian poet and noblewoman who was a member of the renowned literary circle at the court of Isabella d'Este in Mantua.
In the 17th century, Emmanuela Ouriques (1635-1711) was a influential Sephardic Jewish writer and philosopher who lived in Amsterdam and wrote extensively on Jewish mysticism and ethics.
Another notable bearer of the name was Emmanuela Baronessa d'Elci (1751-1842), an Italian aristocrat and writer who was a prominent figure in the Enlightenment salons of Paris and Rome.
As the name spread throughout the Christian world, other notable figures included Emmanuela Mendez da Costa (1798-1868), a British Jewish author and educator who wrote extensively on Jewish history and culture.
People
Emmanuela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emmanuela 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
Emmanuela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emmanuela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 688 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emmanuela 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 498,189 US residents.
Is Emmanuela a common name?
We classify Emmanuela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 701 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emmanuela most popular?
The single biggest year for Emmanuela was 2015, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emmanuela is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Emmanuela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emmanuela 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.