Every Girl Name

Girl's name

Emily

Say it EM-ih-lee

Latin origin rival, emulator 3 syllables

Sister names Middle names Deal sisters

Where Emily is loved, common and rare

Loved in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Common across five German cities, British Columbia, the Netherlands and 14 more places. Rare in Catalonia, Quebec, Poland and three more places.

1 in 78 girls born in Northern Ireland in 2025

Every place

In 30 of the 40 official lists, among them Ireland (6th), Scotland (6th) and Northern Ireland (6th).

Show all 30 placesShow less
PlaceRankGirlsShare
Ireland6th 20252461 in 86
Scotland6th 20251961 in 91
Northern Ireland6th 2025941 in 78
British Columbia province16th 202384about 1 in 142
Berlin city20th 202389about 1 in 163
The Netherlands24th 2025364about 1 in 168
New Zealand26th 202593rank only
Ontario province27th 2024240about 1 in 227
Switzerland34th 20251521 in 224
Italy38th 20249581 in 187
Munich city39th 202532about 1 in 131
Austria43rd 20251721 in 208
England and Wales44th 20259561 in 265
Cologne city50th 202323about 1 in 267
New South Wales state61st 2025111rank only
Victoria state62nd 2025101rank only
Queensland state67th 202577rank only
Israel אמילי68th 2024304about 1 in 258
Norway71st 2025911 in 240
South Australia state77th 202521rank only
Catalonia region115th 2025371 in 521
Quebec province117th 202548about 1 in 542
Poland143rd 2025711 in 1,687
Sweden225th 202536about 1 in 1,116
France449th 20251201 in 2,390
Bonn city13th 202521about 1 in 144
Leipzig city19th 202516about 1 in 164
Estonia22nd 202536rank only
Denmark38th 2025166rank only
Rostock city166th 20251about 1 in 985

Rare, below the listed names: Spain, Hungary and Slovenia.

Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.

Israel publishes names in Hebrew script. The Latin spelling shown is our transliteration; the published form is shown beside it.

Sources: Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); NISRA (Northern Ireland); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), SmartStart (New Zealand); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Landeshauptstadt München, Statistisches Amt (opendata.muenchen.de) (Munich); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (Data.NSW) (New South Wales); Registry of BDM Victoria (DataVic) (Victoria); Queensland Registry of BDM (Qld Open Data Portal) (Queensland); Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel) (Israel); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); SA Attorney-General's Department, Births, Deaths and Marriages (data.sa.gov.au) (South Australia); Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig); Siseministeerium (rahvastikuregister) (Estonia); Statistics Denmark (DST) (Denmark); Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock (opendata-hro.de) (Rostock). How we count, and every source

About the name

The English form of Latin Aemilia, Emily comes from a Roman family name linked to aemulus, 'rival, emulator'. Emilia and Aemilia are related forms from the same source.

Read the restShow less

It has three syllables, EM-ih-lee, and a familiar, gentle rhythm. Em and Emmy are the natural short forms, and Millie, Emilie and Emely are listed among its variants.

Emily is a top-ten name in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and it also shows up in Estonia, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Its high point in the Ontario and British Columbia records came in 1999, so many parents today will know it as a name of their own generation. It is now falling in most of the places where it is tracked.

Meaning, origin, pronunciation

Pronounced
EM-ih-lee, 3 syllables
Meaning
rival, emulator
Origin
Latin
Other spellings
Etymology

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

From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.

Over time

Over five years: rising in 4 of 30 regions, falling in 14.

Show the yearsShow less

Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.

Ireland 31st 1996 to 6th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Scotland 21st 1996 to 6th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Northern Ireland 32nd 1997 to 6th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
British Columbia 1st 1996 to 16th 2023
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Berlin 20th 2012 to 20th 2023
1st10th100th1000th19962025
The Netherlands 36th 2017 to 24th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025

Ten years of ranks

Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.

Region2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
England and Wales35511151919283444
Scotland2222325476
Northern Ireland1122222456
Ireland1111331346
Ontario7119162121202327
British Columbia76101310132516
Nova Scotia151717
New South Wales7141023263533495461
Victoria12141321264044475462
Queensland9172119254753517167
South Australia7141818332443576777
New Zealand710813151522302926
Quebec9210098138135106114127123117
France576524562544588505555518441449
The Netherlands362831342621292624
Austria27323333343438484843
Switzerland30333539323632334734
Berlin1715202115132320
Munich39423942253524162039
Cologne3631393019271750
Bonn42191534332022181913
Leipzig17423627262125162419
Rostock462915284717382825166
Norway63715456646452626571
Sweden218198230208178240240230193225
Denmark26323034293827313338
Catalonia148230280215270162176156149115
Italy424138363439383838
Poland130148177156197214177180168143
Slovenia195199149144209174168
Estonia241753632151322
Israel425145544852576968
Argentina20

England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

YearRankGirlsper 100,000 girls
202544956377.4
2024341,170453.5
2023281,280498.9
2022191,609610.6
2021191,797655.7
2020151,896706.4
2019112,262807.7
201852,676928.3
201753,1211,043.5
201633,5541,157.1
201533,8931,264.2
201443,9911,301.4
201334,0491,312.7
201244,0291,251.0
201153,9741,236.8
201034,3101,342.5
200944,4651,424.8
200834,8811,545.8
200744,7321,545.8
200654,4741,495.1
200524,7521,648.5
200415,3991,888.7
200315,4231,946.0
200225,3902,016.0
200125,9182,208.3
200026,2352,282.4
199926,7602,399.8
199826,5502,265.1
199726,6162,256.6
199646,4152,167.2

Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.

Ontario and British Columbia since 1925

Half of the babies named Emily in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 1999. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 1999, at 2,390.6 per 100,000 girls.

01,2502,5001940196019802000202001,2502,50019602000

Babies named Emily per 100,000 girls born in Ontario and British Columbia, by five-year period. Her 1999 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.

Sources: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (1917-2024), OGL-Ontario; BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (1924-2023), OGL-BC.

Sister names for Emily

  1. 1 in 95 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 228 in Northern Ireland

  3. 1 in 132 in Scotland

  4. 1 in 118 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 728 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 729 in Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 71 in Scotland

  8. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  9. 1 in 197 in Ireland

  10. 1 in 126 in Ireland

All sister names for EmilyDeal more sisters

Middle names for Emily

  1. 1 in 107 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 86 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 71 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 102 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 132 in Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 214 in Northern Ireland

  8. 1 in 173 in Northern Ireland

All middle names for EmilyDeal more middle names

Same style as Emily

Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.

  1. 1 in 126 in Ireland

  2. 1 in 88 in Scotland

  3. 1 in 109 in Scotland

  4. 1 in 99 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  6. 1 in 118 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 70 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 146 in Northern Ireland

Deal more in this style

Famous people named Emily

Emily Dickinson, Emily Brontë, Emily Blunt, Emily Greene Balch, Emily Watson, Emily Deschanel, Emily Osment and Emily Ratajkowski.

Show all 8Show less

People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.

Questions about Emily

5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.

Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Emily?

Her best rank is No. 6 in Northern Ireland in 2025, about 1 in 78 girls. She is in the published lists of 30 of our 40 regions.

What does Emily mean?

Wiktionary glosses Emily as "rival, emulator".

How do you pronounce Emily?

EM-ih-lee, with 3 syllables.

Is Emily getting more popular?

Over five years: rising in 4 of 30 regions, falling in 14.

Which sister names go with Emily?

The deck's top five sisters for Emily: Anna, Eva, Maya, Lucy and Stella. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.

Your list
  1. Keep a name and it lands here
Compare