Emmilia
A feminine variation of the Old German name Amalija meaning "industrious" or "hardworking".
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Emmilia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emmilia today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emmilia births was 2018 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emmilia. 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
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
2018
12 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,950
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Emmilia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emmilia 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 81 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Emmilia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emmilia 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 Emmilia 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 Emmilia
The name Emmilia has its origins in the Latin language, where it was derived from the word "aemulus," meaning "rival" or "competitor." It emerged during the Roman era, around the first century AD, when Latin was widely spoken across the Roman Empire.
This name was initially used as a feminine form of the masculine name Aemilius, which was a prominent Roman family name. The Aemilii were a distinguished patrician family in ancient Rome, known for producing several notable figures throughout the republic and imperial periods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Emmilia can be found in Roman inscriptions and historical records from the first and second centuries AD. It was a name borne by women from various social strata, including members of the Roman aristocracy and commoners alike.
Emmilia was a name favored by early Christian communities, as evidenced by its appearance in various religious texts and records from the third and fourth centuries. Some notable historical figures who bore this name include:
1. Emmilia Lepida (circa 1st century BC), a Roman noblewoman and the second wife of the Roman dictator Sulla.
2. Emmilia Paulina (circa 3rd century AD), a wealthy Roman matron known for her extensive landholdings and patronage of the arts.
3. Saint Emmilia of Caesarea (circa 4th century AD), a Christian martyr from Caesarea Maritima, venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
4. Emmilia of Ravenna (circa 5th century AD), a Roman Catholic saint and the daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Anthemius.
5. Emmilia Camozzi (1548-1587), an Italian Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the Renaissance period.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the name Emmilia continued to be used, albeit less frequently than in ancient times. It experienced a resurgence in popularity during the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in Italy and other European countries with strong Latin influences.
People
Emmilia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emmilia 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
Emmilia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emmilia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emmilia 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Emmilia a common name?
We classify Emmilia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emmilia most popular?
The single biggest year for Emmilia was 2018, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emmilia is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Emmilia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emmilia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emmilia 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 Emmilia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emmilia 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 Emmilia 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Emmilia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.