Names/E

Emma

girls’ nameSteadyCompare

Emma is ranked 2nd among girls in 2024 (13,485 births). It was the number one girl’s name in 2008, 2014–2018.

Rank in 2024
#2same as 2023
Births in 2024
13,4850.84% of girls
Peak year
200322,719 births
Best rank
#1first in 2008
Since 1880
765,264people given the name
Babies named Emma, by year of birthgirls
06.3k12.5k18.8k25k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

763,546 girls have been named Emma in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2003, with 22,719 births — 1.2% of all girls recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 1 → 2).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2004, and the 2010s alone account for 26%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 94 of them in the top 100 and 41 in the top 10.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,718 boys have also been given it, 0.22% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadegirls named Emma
1880s25,404
1890s28,652
1900s24,176
1910s41,819
1920s46,538
1930s30,022
1940s22,787
1950s14,614
1960s6,991
1970s4,667
1980s10,386
1990s58,250
2000s181,393
2010s195,028
2020s72,819

In 2003, its biggest year

Emma was the 2nd most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 2003 were Emily, Emma, Madison, Hannah and Olivia. See all of 2003.

Names that rose and fell with Emma

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.