How rare is the name Emil?

13,668 people in the United States have the first name Emil, about 1 in 22,098. It ranks #2,007 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

EMIL

#2,007

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
13,668
About
1 in 22,098
This common or more
78.1%
Who bears it

Of the 13,668 people named Emil, 71.8% reported their origin as White, 13.1% as Hispanic or Latino and 5.8% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 98% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Emil peaked in 1917, when 1,012 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1917
Births that year
1,012
In 2025*
155 ▼85%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 33,230 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.

Emil by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #252. The largest share of babies named Emil, 42.3%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2521,434
1890s#3351,443
1900s#4461,319
1910s#3586,735
1920s#4387,238
1930s#6263,540
1940s#8672,498
1950s#1,2141,861
1960s#1,5871,271
1970s#2,005963
1980s#2,467810
1990s#3,003837
2000s#3,2211,047
2010s#3,0811,241
2020s#2,535993
Before 19019%
Greatest Generation 1901–2742.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4518.5%
Baby boom 1946–6410.7%
Generation X 1965–804.8%
Millennials 1981–964%
Generation Z 1997–124.8%
2013 and later5.7%

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 Emil is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Emil has been most common in North Dakota (6×), South Dakota (3.5×), and Nebraska (3×), and least common in North Carolina (0.04×).

23,947 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 Emil

#2,005 Damion · 13,674#2,006 Violeta · 13,671#2,008 Remy · 13,657#2,009 Bria · 13,654

Spelled almost the same

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

#44 Emily · 755,529#3,808 Emile · 5,190#7,829 Emili · 1,902#15,849 Emilo · 720#20,005 Emila · 521#20,952 Emel · 489#44,078 Emiel · 158#53,270 Emill · 101

Also a last name

As a last name, Emil ranks #70,358 of 156,621, with 300 people. See Emil as a last name

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