Emma

femaleGermanic

A shortened form of Germanic names beginning with the element 'irmin' ('whole, great'), from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz. Introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, wife of King Ethelred II and later King Canute; further popularised by Jane Austen's 1816 novel Emma.

Origin: Germanic

Official popularity data is available for 7 regions, from 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #1 in Republic of Ireland in 2005. See regions.

Emma: Recorded since 1945, it reached #1 in 2003, and it was still inside the top 100 in 2025.

7registrars recorded it
308times a registrar ranked it
81years from first to last
#1highest recorded position
50groupings it qualifies for
116names it appears alongside

What stands out in Emma's record

Ranked inside the top 10 by 5 registrars, and #1 in 4 of them. Names by top-10 reach
Held a top-100 place for 57 years running. Names by top-100 run
England and Wales registered 4,232 births with the name in 1996, its largest count from any one registrar. Names by yearly birth count
Held at least one birth in every 2,000 for 45 years. Names by sustained share

EM-uh/ˈɛm.ə/

Compare Emma Run Name Checker on Emma

Data Confidence

Evidence: ModerateCompleteness: SubstantialEditorial review: 2026-07-21

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)

Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-07-21), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of geographies with official popularity data (7) — broader official coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Recorded regional spread

Derived from how many geographies' official statistics record this name. It measures where the name is registered, not how well-known it feels to people living there.

International spread

Derived from the same official statistical coverage, scaled to reflect how widely the name crosses national datasets. Not a measure of how easily it is understood in another language.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin: Germanic
Meaning: A shortened form of Germanic names beginning with the element 'irmin' ('whole, great'), from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz. Introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, wife of King Ethelred II and later King Canute; further popularised by Jane Austen's 1816 novel Emma.
Pronunciation: EM-uh
Syllables: 2
Common nicknames: None recorded
Classification: Traditional & modern
Gender usage: female
Language family: Germanic

Popularity

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2025

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#14
1997	#13
1998	#15
1999	#17
2000	#17
2001	#20
2002	#27
2003	#19
2004	#20
2005	#23
2006	#27
2007	#29
2008	#31
2009	#41
2010	#48
2011	#49
2012	#50
2013	#55
2014	#57
2015	#60
2016	#53
2017	#52
2018	#56
2019	#59
2020	#60
2021	#61
2022	#68
2023	#71
2024	#69
2025	#85

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Norway in 75 of the 81 years from 1945 to 2025.

In 2025: #1 among girls in Norway, #28 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #65 among girls in New South Wales, Australia, #85 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 7 national registrars across 7 regions, 1945–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1945
First recorded at #342 among girls in Norway in 1945 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #85 among girls in England and Wales, in 2025.
England and Wales · Girls

Emma appears in 6 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Girls, which has ranked it in 75 years beginning in 1945, and has registered 14,453 births with the name.

Emma across 6 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Emma's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Girls	#342 (1945)	#1 (2003)	#1 (2025)	75 of 81	14,453 (1945–2025)	795 (2003)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#245 (1964)	#1 (2003)	#28 (2025)	62 of 62	26,364 (1964–2025)	791 (2003)
New South Wales, Australia · Girls	#90 (1969)	#3 (1988)	#65 (2025)	57 of 57	21,081 (1969–2025)	887 (1989)
New Zealand · Girls	#99 (1969)	#1 (2003)	#67 (2023)	55 of 55	13,764 (1969–2023)	495 (1988)
England and Wales · Girls	#14 (1996)	#13 (1997)	#85 (2025)	30 of 30	51,284 (1996–2025)	4,232 (1996)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#4 (1997)	#1 (2003)	#84 (2024)	28 of 28	4,286 (1997–2024)	307 (1998)

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Inside a single year a registrar's ranking is its birth counts put in order, so the top of a list is always the name given to the most babies that year. Across years the two separate, because the number of births and the number of names sharing them both change.

In New Zealand · Girls the name reached its highest position, #1, in 2003, when 379 births were registered with it. More were registered in 1988 — 495 — in a year it ranked #2.

Emma by decade in Norway · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Emma in Norway · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1940s	32	4 of 10	8
1950s	63	9 of 10	7
1960s	48	7 of 10	7
1970s	130	9 of 10	14
1980s	412	10 of 10	41
1990s	1,771	10 of 10	177
2000sbusiest	5,418	10 of 10	542
2010s	4,386	10 of 10	439
2020s	2,193	6 of 10	366

Across Norway · Girls, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 542 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2002 and 2003, when recorded births rose by 349, from 446 to 795.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Emma appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

What the record shows

Recorded by 7 registrars between 1945 and 2025, ranked in 77 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #1, first reached in 2003.

It held a top-100 place in 57 years, 57 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 4,232 births, registered in England and Wales in 1996.

5 registrars ranked it inside their own top 10. It reached #1 in 4 registrars' lists.

Its record falls into 5 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1964, and 79 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Emma was ranked #1 in New Zealand · Girls in 2003. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Emirhan · #1851, 22y
Emlyn · #240, 35y
Emma-Jane · #331, 21y
Emma-Jayne · #348, 11y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 7 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Anne · #1, 81y
Charlotte · #1, 73y
Daniel · #1, 81y
David · #1, 81y

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1940 and 1949.

Andreas · #1, 81y
Anne · #1, 81y
Charlotte · #1, 73y
Christine · #1, 81y

Comparisons involving Emma

Existing comparison pages where Emma and another name were ranked in the same published list, in the same years, on the same scale. Each has its own evidence; none of them says the names are alike.

Longest shared records

Names ranked alongside Emma in the same published list across at least 25 years.

Emma vs Danielle
In 1996 they stood at #14 and #20 in England and Wales · Girls, 6 places apart; by 2025 they were #85 and #1454.
Emma · Danielle · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Emma vs Megan
In 1996 they stood at #14 and #10 in England and Wales · Girls, 4 places apart; by 2025 they were #85 and #816.
Emma · Megan · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Emma vs Bethany
In 1996 they stood at #14 and #13 in England and Wales · Girls, 1 places apart; by 2025 they were #85 and #585.
Emma · Bethany · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking

Closest long-running positions

Names that stayed close to Emma within one registrar's list over many years. A gap measured inside that list, never across registrars.

Emma vs Eleanor
Across 30 shared years in England and Wales · Girls, Emma and Eleanor averaged 9.3 places apart, ending at #85 and #56.
Emma · Eleanor · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Emma vs Elizabeth
Across 30 shared years in England and Wales · Girls, Emma and Elizabeth averaged 10.5 places apart, ending at #85 and #74.
Emma · Elizabeth · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Emma vs Jessica
Across 43 shared years in New Zealand · Girls, Emma and Jessica averaged 10.7 places apart, ending at #27 and #85.
Emma · Jessica · 43 shared years, 1977–2019 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2019 New Zealand ranking

Order changes

Pairs where Emma and another name exchanged position in a published list, taken as the final meaningful change.

Emma vs Aoife
In 2003, Emma moved ahead of Aoife in Republic of Ireland · Girls — #4 and #2 the year before became #1 and #3.
Emma · Aoife · 62 shared years, 1964–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2003 Republic of Ireland ranking
Emma vs Ciara
In 2003, Emma moved ahead of Ciara in Republic of Ireland · Girls — #4 and #3 the year before became #1 and #4.
Emma · Ciara · 62 shared years, 1964–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2003 Republic of Ireland ranking
Emma vs Ida
In 2003, Emma moved ahead of Ida in Norway · Girls — #5 and #1 the year before became #1 and #2.
Emma · Ida · 75 shared years, 1945–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2003 Norway ranking

Compared inside Northern Ireland lists

Pairs involving Emma measured in Northern Ireland's own published lists — the registrar that recorded Emma at its highest position.

Emma vs Courtney
In 1997 they stood at #4 and #12 in Northern Ireland · Girls, 8 places apart; by 2017 they were #22 and #432.
Emma · Courtney · 21 shared years, 1997–2017 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2017 Northern Ireland ranking
Emma vs Abigail
Both reached their highest recorded position in Northern Ireland · Girls within 2 years — Emma #1 in 2003, Abigail #29 in 2005.
Emma · Abigail · 28 shared years, 1997–2024 · Peaked in the same years
See the 2005 Northern Ireland ranking
Emma vs Aimee
Both reached their highest recorded position in Northern Ireland · Girls within 2 years — Emma #1 in 2003, Aimee #9 in 2004.
Emma · Aimee · 28 shared years, 1997–2024 · Peaked in the same years
See the 2004 Northern Ireland ranking

Northern Ireland overview→

Emma and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Emma without appearing here.

Emma moved ahead of

Elsie
In 2012 they stood at #413 and #411 in Norway · Girls; by 2013 that had become #1 and #527.
Janet
In 1976 they stood at #422 and #402 in Norway · Girls; by 1977 that had become #240 and #554.
Alma
In 1976 they stood at #422 and #313 in Norway · Girls; by 1977 that had become #240 and #450.
Ellinor
In 1974 they stood at #421 and #420 in Norway · Girls; by 1975 that had become #320 and #500.

Moved ahead of Emma

Saoirse Compare
In 2022 they stood at #46 and #50 in Northern Ireland · Girls; by 2023 that had become #95 and #37.
Caoimhe Compare
In 2022 they stood at #46 and #61 in Northern Ireland · Girls; by 2023 that had become #95 and #62.
Heidi Compare
In 2022 they stood at #46 and #73 in Northern Ireland · Girls; by 2023 that had become #95 and #66.
Madison Compare
In 2022 they stood at #55 and #67 in New Zealand · Girls; by 2023 that had become #67 and #44.

Moved the opposite way to Emma

Anita
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 while Anita went from #162 to #459.
Anne
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 while Anne went from #1 to #159.
Åse
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 while Åse went from #25 to #93.
Aud
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 while Aud went from #13 to #427.

Moved the same way as Emma

Ada
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 and Ada from #229 to #18.
Alma
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 and Alma from #293 to #8.
Ella Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 and Ella from #137 to #4.
Ellinor
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Emma went from #342 to #1 and Ellinor from #102 to #7.

Meaning & Origin

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Germanic

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Other names with a researched meaning and origin →

Where Emma is officially recorded

7 official registrars have recorded Emma, between 1945 and 2025, in 77 of those 81 years. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
Norway	1945–2025	75	#1 in 2003
Republic of Ireland	1964–2025	62	#1 in 2003
New South Wales, Australia	1969–2025	57	#3 in 1988
New Zealand	1969–2023	55	#1 in 2003
England and Wales	1996–2025	30	#13 in 1997
Northern Ireland	1997–2024	28	#1 in 2003
Scotland	2024	1	#53 in 2024

Its high point came 36 years earlier in New South Wales, Australia (1988) than in Scotland (2024).

Variants

No spelling variants or nicknames recorded yet.

Similar Names

No similar names recorded yet for this name.

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

No commonly used alternate spellings recorded.

Pronunciation

EM-uh/ˈɛm.ə/

Syllables: 2
Ease: easy

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Where Emma Is Recorded

National statistical agencies have recorded Emma in these places. This shows where the name is used — not where it comes from, and not that it carries particular cultural significance there.

New South Wales, AustraliaEngland and WalesNorthern IrelandScotlandRepublic of IrelandNorwayNew Zealand

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

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Emma

Emma at a glance

What stands out in Emma's record

Overview

Popularity

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Emma across 6 official records

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Emma by decade in Norway · Girls

Emma appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Emma

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Emma

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Compared inside Northern Ireland lists

Emma and the names beside it

Emma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Emma

Moved the opposite way to Emma

Moved the same way as Emma

Meaning & Origin

Where Emma is officially recorded

Variants

Similar Names

Spelling

Pronunciation

Where Emma Is Recorded

Notable Usage

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

Emma at a glance

What stands out in Emma's record

Emma across 6 official records

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Emma by decade in Norway · Girls

Emma appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Emma

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Emma

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Compared inside Northern Ireland lists

Emma and the names beside it

Emma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Emma

Moved the opposite way to Emma

Moved the same way as Emma