How common is the name Emma?

498,221 people in the United States have the first name Emma, about 1 in 606. It ranks #86 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

EMMA

#86

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
498,221
About
1 in 606
This common or more
28.1%
Who bears it

Of the 498,221 people named Emma, 71.7% reported their origin as White, 16.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.3% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Emma peaked in 2003, when 22,756 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2003
Births that year
22,756
In 2025*
12,768 ▼44%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 778,172 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.

Emma by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #1. The largest share of babies named Emma, 34.6%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#1025,512
1890s#1628,763
1900s#3124,268
1910s#7341,963
1920s#10246,730
1930s#15630,230
1940s#23922,901
1950s#40214,657
1960s#6387,011
1970s#8054,681
1980s#48110,443
1990s#12358,322
2000s#14181,711
2010s#1195,232
2020s#585,748
Before 19017.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2713.1%
Silent Generation 1928–456.8%
Baby boom 1946–643.5%
Generation X 1965–801%
Millennials 1981–964.9%
Generation Z 1997–1234.6%
2013 and later28.8%

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 Emma is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Emma has been most common in Nevada (1.6×), Alaska (1.5×), and Mississippi (1.4×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.56×).

696,274 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 Emma

#84 Gregory · 503,949#85 Kelly · 499,222#87 Adam · 496,300#88 Pamela · 495,991

Spelled almost the same

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

#2,487 Emmy · 9,880#3,657 Ema · 5,577#5,221 Emme · 3,329#8,002 Emmi · 1,841#14,020 Emmah · 848#23,505 Emm · 416#25,481 Emya · 372#31,632 Emna · 270

Also a last name

As a last name, Emma ranks #23,249 of 156,621, with 1,128 people. See Emma as a last name

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