Emily

Emily: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “rival”
Origin: Latin
Say it: EM-uh-lee · 3 syllables
Used for: Girls

English form of Emilie/Emilia, from the Roman family name Aemilius. Related forms include Amelia, Emilia, and Emilie, though Amelia has a different origin.

English names Classic names Literary names

How popular is Emily?

20241,792 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Emily in 20245,965

2024 rank#25 girls

Peak year1999

Total US babies since 1880892,769

Emily is fading: recent use is about 52% of its level ten years before.

Names like Emily

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Emelyrival · Latin
Emilierival · French
Emileerival · English
Camilayoung ceremonial attendant · Latin
Lunamoon · Latin
Auroradawn · Latin
Norahonor · Latin
Lucylight · Latin

Emily questions

What does the name Emily mean?

Emily means "rival". It comes from Latin. English form of Emilie/Emilia, from the Roman family name Aemilius. Related forms include Amelia, Emilia, and Emilie, though Amelia has a different origin.

Is Emily a boy or girl name?

Emily is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Emily?

5,965 US babies were named Emily in 2024. Its peak year was 1999.

How do you pronounce Emily?

Emily is usually pronounced EM-uh-lee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.