Emily: Meaning, origin and popularity

Pronounced EM-uh-lee · 3 syllables

Emily means “eager, striving (from Aemilius)”, from Latin.

English form of Latin Aemilia, a gens name from aemulus (“rival, emulator”).

How popular is Emily?

Emily was the #34 name in the US in 2025, given to 5,461 babies. It’s used less than it was: down 53% on 2011–2015. It peaked around 1990.

Babies named Emily in the US by five-year period, relative to its peak (around 1990).

Half of US adults named Emily are older than 31; most are between 19 and 55. (Estimated from US births by year and life tables.)

Names that real brothers and sisters of people named Emily have, from family records on Wikidata, most common first.

Chosen by the same families or with a similar style and era.

Emily means “eager, striving (from Aemilius)”. It comes from Latin.

Emily is pronounced EM-uh-lee.

Emily was the #34 name in the US in 2025, given to 5,461 babies. It’s used less than it was: down 53% on 2011–2015. It peaked around 1990.

Half of US adults named Emily are older than 31. Most are between 19 and 55.