Emily

Feminine variation of Emil, Latin

"rival"

Emily Origin and Meaning

The name Emily is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rival".

Emily may have dropped somewhat in the current standings, but it was the most popular girls' name for over a decade because it appeals on many levels: Emily is feminine, classic, simple, pretty, and strong. Emily is Number 1 among Gen Z names. It also has those nice literary namesakes, like Emily Dickinson and Emily Brontë.

Parents who a decade ago might have chosen Emily have moved on to Emma and now are looking at such alternatives as Amelia and Emmeline. But those girls' names, like Emma, may soon feel overused too.

Emily was derived from the Roman name Aemilia, which may have evolved from the Latin word aemulus, meaning "hardworking" or "rival." Emilia has the same Latin root as Emily, but Amelia has separate origins — it was derived from the Germanic name Amalia, meaning work. Emma is also rooted in German and means universal.

Modern Emilys in the spotlight include a number of the hottest young actresses — Emily Blunt, Emily Mortimer, Emily Deschanel — and even Emma Stone was christened Emily. And Emily is still one of the most widely used girl names starting with E, on its way to overtaking A as the most fashionable first initial.

Emily Rank in US Top 1000

# 18 in the US

Emily Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 131 on Nameberry

Emily Popularity

• 18 US 2023
• 131 Nameberry 2024
• 27 Canada 2023
• 19 England 2022
• 4 Scotland 2023
• 3 Ireland 2023
• 53 Australia 2023
• 30 New Zealand 2023
• 19 Germany 2023
• 29 Netherlands 2023
• 38 Italy 2022
• 22 Mexico 2021
• 31 Denmark 2023
• 83 Belgium 2019
• 34 Switzerland 2023
• 48 Austria 2023
• 197 Poland 2020
• 66 Israel 2023
• 15 Argentina 2021
• 16 Chile 2021

20 Names Similar to Emily

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

• Anna
• Emma
• Elizabeth
• Abigail
• Hannah
• Alexandra
• Anne
• Isabella
• Kate
• Rebecca
• Katherine
• Claire
• Catherine
• Ella
• Julia
• Caroline
• Grace
• Emilia
• Chloe
• Alice

Famous People Named Emily

• Emily Jane Bronte English novelist
• Emily Elizabeth Dickinson American poet
• Emily Post American author and etiquette guru
• Emily Margaret Watson English actress
• Emily Jordan Osment American actress
• Emily Olivia Leah Blunt English actress
• Emily Greene Balch American economist, sociologist, and pacifist
• Emily Jean "Emma" Stone American actress
• Emily May Stephenson, English actress
• Emily Rebecca Kinney American actress and singer
• Emily Carr Canadian painter
• Emily St. John Mandel Canadian author
• Emily Lau (Wai hing), Hong Kong politician
• Emily West (born Emily Marie Nemmers) American singer
• Emily Erin Deschanel American actress
• Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer English actress and screenwriter
• Emily Irene VanCamp Canadian actress
• Emily Haines Canadian,American singer,songwriter
• Emily Robison (born Emily Burns Erwin) American singer,songwriter
• Emily Saliers American singer,songwriter
• Emily Anne Hughes American figure skater
• Emily Smith Scottish folk singer
• Emily Ann Sonnett American soccer player
• Emily Nicole Boyd American soccer player
• Emily Townsend Menges American soccer player
• Emily Bett Rickards Canadian actress
• Emily Louise Van Egmond Australian soccer player
• Emily Jane Zurrer Canadian soccer player
• Emily Sofia Alvarado Natividad Mexican American football player
• Emily Ratajkowski American model and actress
• Emily Palmer Marshall character on ZOOM
• Emily Beth Stern (b. 1983) daughter of radio/TV personality Howard Stern
• Emily Clarkson (b. 1995) daughter of TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson
• Emily Cunliffe (b. 1998) daughter of TV personality Kym Marsh of "Loose Women"
• Emily Grace Stanley (b. 2011) daughter of American musician Paul Stanley
• Emily Dale Griffin (b. 2017) daughter of actress Sutton Foster and Ted Griffin

Emily in Pop Culture

• Emily character in novel "The One Apart" by author Justine Avery
• Lady Emily Ashton main character of the Lady Emily mysteries by Tasha Alexander
• Emily main character in novelette "The Post,it Note Affair" by author Justine Avery
• Emily Barham character in novel and 1964 film "The Americanization of Emily"
• Emily Bartlett title character in Beverly Cleary's "Emily's Runaway Imagination"
• Emily Bishop character on British soap "Coronation Street"
• Emily Byrd Starr main character in L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon series
• Emily Duff character in animated series "Tiny Toon Adventures"
• Emily Elizabeth character in the Clifford the Big Red Dog series
• Emily Eyefinger children's book series by Duncan Ball and Craig Smith
• Emily Fields character on TV's "Pretty Little Liars"
• Emily Bennett character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
• Emily Bennett character in the Molly: An American Girl book series and movie
• Emily Fitch character on TV's "Skins"
• Emily Foster main character in 1976 film "Emily"
• Emily Francisco character on TV's "Alien Nation"
• Emily Gilmore Lorelai Gilmore's mother on TV's "Gilmore Girls"
• Emily Grierson main character in William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"
• Emily Wheiler 'Neferet' main antagonist of the House of Night series (PC Cast)
• Emily Hartwood character in video game series Alone in the Dark
• Emily Kirk character on British soap "Emmerdale"
• Emily Lightman character on TV's "Lie to Me"
• Emily Locke main character on TV's "Powerless"
• Emily Pollifax main character in mystery novels by Dorothy Gilman
• Emily Prentiss character on TV's "Criminal Minds"
• Emily Rappaport character in J.K. Rowling's "History of Magic in North America"
• Emily Shelby character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin'
• Emily the Strange cartoon and merchandising character
• Emily Thorne main character on TV's "Revenge," played by Emily VanCamp
• Emily Weaver character in film "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
• Emily Windsnap main character in a series of novels by Liz Kessler
• Emily Wyatt character in the video game Deadly Premonition
• Emily Young character in The Twilight Saga
• Emily character in animated film "The Corpse Bride"
• Emily character in the comic strip Peanuts
• Emily character on TV's "Power Rangers Samurai"
• Emily steam locomotive on animated series "Thomas & Friends"
• "Emily " French animated series and its main character
• Emily "Em" character in video game "Until Dawn"
• Emily Drexel Lela Kaldwin character in "Dishonored" video game series
• Emily Rose character in "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"
• Emily "Em" Gale character in "The Wizard of Oz"
• Emily the wife in Definitely, Maybe
• Emily Bennett an American Girl Doll who is Molly Mcintire's best friend
• Emily a character in the TV show "The Next Step"
• Miss Emily Baldwin character in "The Waltons"
• Emily Agreste character in "Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir"
• Emily Sweeney character in TV series "The Big Bang Theory"
• Emily Bosch character, Captain in the upcoming series "Star Trek: Picard"
• Emily Birdy character in the World of Webkinz
• Emily Waltham Ross’ ex,wife in FRIENDS
• Emily Walker character on TV's "Walker"
• "Emily" song by Joanna Newsom