Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls
Origin: GermanEmma is a feminine given name. It is derived from the Germanic word ermen, meaning "whole" or "universal". It likely originated as a short form of names such as Ermengarde or Ermentrude.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Emma yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Emma is the clearest case among the current top names of a peak already passed: it topped the chart at 22,719 births in 2003 and held #1 through 2008, but 2024's count of 13,485 is down 36% from a decade ago, even though it still ranks #2 nationally.
That gap between rank and raw count is the real story here. Emma's own numbers make the point: it needed 22,719 births to be the #1 name in 2003, but today's #2 spot only takes 13,485, well under two-thirds of that — because parents are drawing from a much wider pool of choices than they were twenty years ago. Emma isn't fading so much as the whole naming landscape has spread out underneath it.
The name has been recorded every year since 1880, and its famous bearers — Jane Austen's Emma predates the data, but Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, and Emma Goldman span acting and activism across more than a century — suggest a name that's been quietly available the whole time, waiting for its turn rather than arriving with any single moment.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Emma · Compare Emma with another name → · Popular names of the 2000s · Girls names starting with E
Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 2,003 | #3 |
| 1881 | 2,034 | #3 |
| 1882 | 2,303 | #3 |
| 1883 | 2,367 | #3 |
| 1884 | 2,587 | #3 |
| 1885 | 2,728 | #3 |
| 1886 | 2,764 | #3 |
| 1887 | 2,647 | #4 |
| 1888 | 3,087 | #4 |
| 1889 | 2,884 | #5 |
| 1890 | 2,980 | #5 |
| 1891 | 2,884 | #5 |
| 1892 | 3,128 | #7 |
| 1893 | 2,968 | #9 |
| 1894 | 2,937 | #9 |
| 1895 | 2,952 | #10 |
| 1896 | 2,872 | #10 |
| 1897 | 2,698 | #10 |
| 1898 | 2,788 | #13 |
| 1899 | 2,445 | #13 |
| 1900 | 3,095 | #13 |
| 1901 | 2,374 | #17 |
| 1902 | 2,514 | #18 |
| 1903 | 2,308 | #23 |
| 1904 | 2,312 | #22 |
| 1905 | 2,298 | #26 |
| 1906 | 2,224 | #28 |
| 1907 | 2,356 | #27 |
| 1908 | 2,357 | #30 |
| 1909 | 2,338 | #34 |
| 1910 | 2,607 | #34 |
| 1911 | 2,616 | #35 |
| 1912 | 3,357 | #35 |
| 1913 | 3,474 | #38 |
| 1914 | 3,972 | #39 |
| 1915 | 5,044 | #40 |
| 1916 | 5,217 | #41 |
| 1917 | 5,121 | #46 |
| 1918 | 5,324 | #46 |
| 1919 | 5,087 | #45 |
| 1920 | 5,238 | #46 |
| 1921 | 5,072 | #52 |
| 1922 | 5,013 | #50 |
| 1923 | 4,977 | #53 |
| 1924 | 4,897 | #57 |
| 1925 | 4,714 | #57 |
| 1926 | 4,480 | #59 |
| 1927 | 4,327 | #64 |
| 1928 | 4,017 | #67 |
| 1929 | 3,803 | #69 |
| 1930 | 3,555 | #73 |
| 1931 | 3,308 | #76 |
| 1932 | 3,329 | #76 |
| 1933 | 3,152 | #75 |
| 1934 | 2,940 | #85 |
| 1935 | 2,802 | #89 |
| 1936 | 2,831 | #85 |
| 1937 | 2,750 | #89 |
| 1938 | 2,670 | #96 |
| 1939 | 2,685 | #89 |
| 1940 | 2,606 | #94 |
| 1941 | 2,546 | #99 |
| 1942 | 2,605 | #108 |
| 1943 | 2,423 | #113 |
| 1944 | 2,246 | #118 |
| 1945 | 2,052 | #123 |
| 1946 | 2,071 | #131 |
| 1947 | 2,142 | #141 |
| 1948 | 2,098 | #138 |
| 1949 | 1,998 | #147 |
| 1950 | 1,896 | #154 |
| 1951 | 1,731 | #174 |
| 1952 | 1,709 | #180 |
| 1953 | 1,590 | #195 |
| 1954 | 1,530 | #202 |
| 1955 | 1,461 | #211 |
| 1956 | 1,340 | #226 |
| 1957 | 1,217 | #243 |
| 1958 | 1,084 | #266 |
| 1959 | 1,056 | #270 |
| 1960 | 978 | #296 |
| 1961 | 890 | #307 |
| 1962 | 798 | #332 |
| 1963 | 724 | #352 |
| 1964 | 769 | #343 |
| 1965 | 640 | #359 |
| 1966 | 619 | #364 |
| 1967 | 564 | #385 |
| 1968 | 493 | #427 |
| 1969 | 516 | #426 |
| 1970 | 529 | #422 |
| 1971 | 474 | #442 |
| 1972 | 453 | #428 |
| 1973 | 419 | #447 |
| 1974 | 491 | #408 |
| 1975 | 477 | #422 |
| 1976 | 415 | #463 |
| 1977 | 479 | #423 |
| 1978 | 443 | #448 |
| 1979 | 487 | #429 |
| 1980 | 531 | #416 |
| 1981 | 534 | #413 |
| 1982 | 562 | #409 |
| 1983 | 553 | #397 |
| 1984 | 678 | #341 |
| 1985 | 947 | #263 |
| 1986 | 1,259 | #209 |
| 1987 | 1,589 | #175 |
| 1988 | 1,795 | #160 |
| 1989 | 1,938 | #149 |
| 1990 | 2,420 | #130 |
| 1991 | 2,595 | #123 |
| 1992 | 3,213 | #104 |
| 1993 | 4,108 | #80 |
| 1994 | 4,765 | #74 |
| 1995 | 5,051 | #67 |
| 1996 | 6,150 | #53 |
| 1997 | 7,749 | #36 |
| 1998 | 10,449 | #22 |
| 1999 | 11,750 | #17 |
| 2000 | 12,560 | #17 |
| 2001 | 13,326 | #13 |
| 2002 | 16,557 | #4 |
| 2003 | 22,719 | #2 |
| 2004 | 21,620 | #2 |
| 2005 | 20,359 | #2 |
| 2006 | 19,128 | #2 |
| 2007 | 18,388 | #3 |
| 2008 | 18,826 | #1 |
| 2009 | 17,910 | #2 |
| 2010 | 17,364 | #3 |
| 2011 | 18,822 | #3 |
| 2012 | 20,972 | #2 |
| 2013 | 20,966 | #2 |
| 2014 | 20,962 | #1 |
| 2015 | 20,485 | #1 |
| 2016 | 19,548 | #1 |
| 2017 | 19,870 | #1 |
| 2018 | 18,818 | #1 |
| 2019 | 17,221 | #2 |
| 2020 | 15,714 | #2 |
| 2021 | 15,543 | #2 |
| 2022 | 14,498 | #2 |
| 2023 | 13,579 | #2 |
| 2024 | 13,485 | #2 |
