Emil

EH-mil; EH-meel; EHM-il; eh-MEEL

Latin

"rival"

Emil Origin and Meaning

The name Emil is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "rival".

Derived from the Latin word aemulus, Emil is a name with international appeal. Concise and sturdy but with the gentle Em sound, Emil is popular across Europe, from Azerbaijan to Finland, from Germany to Norway, and Denmark. Alternative spelling Emile also ranks highly in Belgium and Canada.

In the US however, while Emil was briefly popular in the 19th century, by the early 1980s, it had completely dropped out of the Top 1000. Though its variants Emiliano and Emilio currently sit in the Top 300 - as do the similar sounding Emmett, Emerson, and Emmanuel - Emil still awaits rediscovery

Emil Rank in US Top 1000

# 968 in the US

Emil Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 348 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Emil

• 348 Nameberry 2025
• 128 Unique 2023
• 783 England 2023
• 9 Germany 2024
• 48 Sweden 2024
• 4 Norway 2024
• 7 Denmark 2023
• 7 Finland 2023
• 2 Iceland 2023
• 36 Switzerland 2023
• 22 Austria 2023
• 68 Poland 2024
• 69 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2023
• 20 Azerbaijan 2022

20 Names Similar to Emil

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Emil.

• Ephraim
• Enoch
• Raoul
• Simeon
• Laurent
• Etienne
• Thaddaeus
• Oskar
• Agustin
• Marcel
• Obadiah
• Seamus
• Cyril
• Griffith
• Abner
• Alphonse
• Hiram
• Llewellyn
• Crispin
• Edmond

Famous People Named Emil

• Emil Herman Robert Cedercreutz Finnish sculptor
• Emil Öhmann Finnish linguist
• Johan Emil Kauppi Finnish composer
• Emil Cioran Romanian philosopher
• Emil Constantinescu 3rd President of Romania
• Emil Dominik Josef Hácha 3rd President of Czechoslovakia
• Emil Fredrick Nervander Finnish author
• Emil Isac Romanian poet
• Emil Theodor Kocher winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Emil Melmoth Mexican artist
• Aquila Emil Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
• Emil Adolf von Behring winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Frans Emil Sillanpää Finnish winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
• Jyrki Pekka Emil Linnankivi Finnish musician Jyrki69 of The 69 Eyes
• Emil Peter Forsberg Swedish professional footballer
• Emil Goll lead singer in the Danish band Scarlet Pleasure

The name Emil in Pop Culture

• Emil i Lönneberga series of novels by Astrid Lindgren about a young prankster
• "Emil" nickname of the Kurt Maschler Award for integrated text and illustration
• Emil River China and Kazakhstan
• Emil Kolar character on TV's "The Sopranos"
• Emil Blonsky aka Abomination character in Marvel Comics
• Emil Antonowsky a villain in film "RoboCop"
• Emil Bleehall main character at Walt Disney World's Adventurers Club
• Emil Castagnier main character of the video game Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World"
• Emil Hamilton character in DC Universe
• Emil Eagle character in Donald Duck comics
• Dr. Emil Lang character in animated series "Robotech"
• Emil Skoda M.D., character on TV's "Law & Orde"r and "Law & Order: SVU"
• Emil Tischbein title character in "Emil and the Detectives" and its sequel by Erich Kästner
• Emil Narud a scientist in video game "Starcraft II"
• Emil Steilsson character representing Iceland in anime "Hetalia: Axis Powers"
• Emil Sinclair the main character in "Demian" by Hermann Hesse
• Dr. Emil Breton a character in film "Sisters"
• Emil character in video game "Nier"
• Dr. Emil Schaffhausen III main character in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Emil character in World War II based book Emil and Karl

International Variations of the name Emil

• Emilian Slavic
• Emelinho Portuguese
• Emilano Spanish
• Emeli Finnish
• Emilinho Portuguese
• Emilio Spanish
• Emile French