How rare is the name Emerson?

43,461 people in the United States have the first name Emerson, about 1 in 6,949. It ranks #990 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

EMERSON

#990

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
43,461
About
1 in 6,949
This common or more
69.9%
Who bears it

Of the 43,461 people named Emerson, 72% reported their origin as White, 14% as Hispanic or Latino and 5.7% as two or more races. 51.2% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Emerson peaked in 2025, when 3,612 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2025
Births that year
3,612
In 2025*
3,612
Recorded as
used for both

At least 67,571 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Emerson by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #197. The largest share of babies named Emerson, 59.3%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#884185
1890s#1,095194
1900s#995321
1910s#7761,751
1920s#8612,139
1930s#1,0951,238
1940s#1,3331,092
1950s#1,730946
1960s#2,075759
1970s#2,437680
1980s#2,385858
1990s#1,9101,683
2000s#6339,971
2010s#27026,816
2020s#19718,938
Before 19010.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–275.7%
Silent Generation 1928–453.3%
Baby boom 1946–642.7%
Generation X 1965–801.6%
Millennials 1981–962.5%
Generation Z 1997–1224.3%
2013 and later59.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Emerson is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Emerson has been most common in Colorado (2×), New Hampshire (1.6×), and North Carolina (1.6×), and least common in Alaska (0.45×).

60,598 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Emerson

#988 Dominick · 43,551#989 Nikki · 43,487#991 Kelvin · 43,448#992 Jaclyn · 43,408

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Emerson, most common first.

#2,489 Emersyn · 9,870#6,332 Emmerson · 2,548#13,266 Emersen · 915#15,023 Emmersyn · 773

Also a last name

As a last name, Emerson ranks #1,182 of 156,621, with 29,261 people. See Emerson as a last name

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