Emma
Emma was the 3rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 12,754 babies. Its best year was 2008, when it ranked 1st; the most babies were born in 2003 (22,719). Over the last ten years it has moved down 2 places. More babies were named Emma in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning whole, entire (Germanic element) · Germanic
Say it EM-uh /ˈɛmə/
- Rank in 2025
- #3 girls, down 1 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 12,754girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 200322,719 babies
- Total since 1880
- 778,172babies recorded
What does the name Emma mean?
Emma started as a short form of longer Germanic names beginning with the element irmin- or ermin-. Wiktionary glosses the element as 'whole, entire'; DMNES glosses it as 'strong'. It soon became a name in its own right. The Normans brought it to England, where it was the name of an 11th-century queen of England, Denmark and Norway.
*ermunaz (Proto-Germanic, “whole, entire, great”)ermen / irmin (Old High German / Old Saxon, “strong (DMNES gloss)”)
How sure is this? Probable. The sources gloss the Germanic element differently ('whole' or 'strong'). Both agree it is a short form of compound names.
See also: Germanic names.
Nicknames for Emma
The usual nicknames for Emma are Em and Emmy. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Emma in the last five years, 5 were named Emmy, against fewer than 1 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Em · also for Emilia, Emily, Emersyn | Traditional | — | — |
| Emmy · also for Emilia, Emily, Emersyn | Traditional | #445 | 3,181 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Emmas go by each one.
Emma popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 1,733 since 1880, 14 in 2025.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3 | 12,754 |
| 2020 | #2 | 15,723 |
| 2010 | #3 | 17,366 |
| 2000 | #17 | 12,560 |
| 1990 | #130 | 2,420 |
| 1980 | #417 | 530 |
| 1970 | #421 | 529 |
| 1960 | #297 | 976 |
| 1950 | #154 | 1,896 |
| 1940 | #94 | 2,606 |
| 1930 | #73 | 3,555 |
| 1920 | #46 | 5,238 |
| 1910 | #34 | 2,607 |
| 1900 | #13 | 3,095 |
| 1890 | #5 | 2,980 |
| 1880 | #3 | 2,003 |
How popular is Emma, counting every spelling?
Emma is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #5 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #3 for Emma on its own. Together these spellings went to 12,759 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emma | 12,754 | #3 | 69,929 |
| Emmah | 5 | #15,609 | 47 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Emma?
12,754 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Emma (3.54 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Emma born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is about 1 in 15. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, a typical elementary school of 430 pupils would have about 1.5 children named Emma.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Emma?
About 567,100 people born in the US named Emma are alive today, with a median age of 17; half are between 10 and 24. That makes Emma mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Emma by state
How common Emma was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Wyoming (2.3×), Vermont (2.1×), Alaska (2.0×), Rhode Island (2.0×), Delaware (1.9×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Michigan.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Emma: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Emma, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Emma · Sibling names for Emma
Questions about the name Emma
What does Emma mean?
Emma means “whole, entire (Germanic element)” (Germanic origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Emma?
Emma was the 3rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 12,754 babies. Its best year was 2008, when it ranked 1st; the most babies were born in 2003 (22,719). Over the last ten years it has moved down 2 places. More babies were named Emma in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Emma a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Emma in the US.
Where is Emma most popular?
In 2021–2025, Emma was most common in Wyoming (20.17 per 1,000 girls), followed by Vermont and Alaska.