Emma - Meaning of Emma

What does Emma mean?

[ 2 syll. em-ma, emm-a ] The baby girl name Emma is pronounced as EHMah in English †. Emma is primarily used in the English, Armenian, Catalan, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Scandinavian, and Spanish languages, and its language of origin is Latin and Germanic. Germanic origin, Armenian, Catalan, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Scandinavian, and Spanish use: The name originated as a short form of compound names such as Ermintrude or Irmingard, which begin with 'Erm-' or 'Irm-' and thus contain the element 'ermen' (meaning whole, immense, universal) or 'irmin' (whole, immense, universal). It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy (985-1052), who married King Ethelred the Unready of England and later his successor King Canute the Great of Denmark; she was the mother of King Edward the Confessor with the former. The name was thereafter widely adopted by medieval English speakers. It later saw a revival in the 18th and 19th centuries, promoted by the fictional young women bearing the name in Matthew Prior's poem Henry and Emma (1709), Jane Austen's novel Emma (1815), and Gustave Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary (1856). It was also borne then by Lady Emma Hamilton (1761-1815), the mistress of Lord Nelson. The name is also used now as a diminutive of Emily despite the difference in etymology.

Emma is a diminutive form of the English name Emily.

The name Emma is widely used; it has 37 forms that are used in English and other languages. Forms used in English include Emaline, Emelin, Emelina, Emeline, Emelyn, Emelyne, Emi, Emie, Emiline, Emlyn, Emma-Leigh, Emmah, Emmajean, Emmalee, Emmalina, Emmaline, Emmalyn, Emmalynn, Emmalynne, Emme, Emmeleia, Emmeline, Emmelyn, Emmelyne, Emmet, Emmett, Emmette, Emmye, Erma (also used in German), and Ima. Other English forms include the contractions Em and Emm, the diminutive forms Emmi (also used in German), Emmie, and Emmy (also used in Dutch), and the variant spelling Ema (also used in Czech, Spanish, Portuguese, and Slavic). A form of Emma in other languages is the Teutonic Emna.

See also the related forms, Emma-Lee, Emmarald, Irma.

Emma is a very popular baby name for girls. The name has been increasing in popularity since the 1970s. At the height of its usage in 2003, 1.133% of baby girls were given the name Emma. It ranked at #2 then. In 2011, its usage was 0.972% and its ranking #3, and it was the most popular within all girl names in its group. In 2011, 32% more girls were named Emma than the 2nd most popular name, Emily. The name Emma has been mostly given to girls, though it has also been used as a boy name in the past century. In 1910, the name Emma was given to 76 times more girls than boys.

Baby names that sound like Emma include Emmah, Eithne, Ema, Eman, Emane, Emann, Eme, Emi, Emie, Emine, Emmee, Emmey, Emmi, Emmie, Emmy, Emmye, Emna, Emy, Ena, and Enah.

† Pronunciation for Emma: EH as in "ebb (EH.B)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)"

Details of famous persons named Emma:
Actress Emma Watson, born 15 April 1990, Paris, France.
Actress Emma Thompson, born 15 April 1959, Paddington, London, England.
Poet Emma Lazarus, born 22 July 1849 - 19 November 1887, New York, New York.
Singer Emma Bunton, born Emma Lee Bunton, 21 January 1976, London, England.