Emily - Origin and Meaning of the name

The girl name Emily [ 3 syll. e-mi-ly, em-ily ] is pronounced EHMahLiy ^KEY. Emily has its origins in the Latin language and it is used largely in English. Derived from the word aemulus which has the meaning 'imitating, rivaling'. An old form of the name is the Latin Aemilia. The name was adopted by English speakers in the 18th century and was briefly popular in the 19th century. Emily is the feminine form of the Czech, German, Hungarian, and Scandinavian Emil.

Forms of Emily include the Scandinavian Emelie, the French and English Emeline, the English Emely, the English Emilee, the German Emilia, the German Emilie, the French Émilie, and the German Mile.

Emily is very popular as a baby girl name. The name has been growing in popularity since the 1960s. Its usage peaked in 1999 with 1.365% of baby girls being named Emily. It was #1 in rank then. In 2007, it ranked at #1 with a usage of 0.917%, and it was the most popular among all girl names in its family. Emily was used 19 times more than the 2nd ranked name, the English Emely, in 2007.

Baby names that sound like Emily include the Scandinavian Emelie, the English Emely, the German Emilie, the French Émilie, the French Emanuelle, the French Emmanuelle, the Italian Emanuela, the Turkish Emel, and the English Emilee.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Emily: EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)"

Details of famous persons named Emily:
Actress Emily Watson, born 14 January 1967, Islington, London, England.
Author Emily Bronte, born 30 July 1818 - 19 December 1848, Yorkshire, England.
Author Emily Post, born Emily Price 27 October 1872 - 25 September 1960, Baltimore, Maryland.
Country Musician Emily Robison, born 16 August 1972, Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Poet Emily Dickinson, born 10 December 1830 - 15 May 1886, Amherst, Massachusetts.

Popularity Trend
for Emily
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Emily
in 2007