Popularity of the name Emily, 1880–2025
Emily was at its most popular in 1999, when 26,542 girls were given the name: about 1 in 67 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #1. In 2025, 5,451 girls were named Emily, ranking #34. In all, Social Security counts 896,487 girls named Emily since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 1,809 boys named Emily.
- Peak year
- 1999
- Rank in 1999
- #1
- Babies in 1999
- 26,542
- Rank in 2025
- #34
- Total since 1880
- 896,487
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #8 in 2015 to #34 in 2025, with 11,808 girls named Emily in 2015 and 5,451 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Emily ranked highest in the 2000s, at #1, with 223,768 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #91 in the 1880s and #20 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 210 in 1880 (#100), 626 in 1900 (#105), 2,168 in 1920 (#119), 1,269 in 1940 (#164), 1,225 in 1960 (#251), 9,001 in 1980 (#31), 25,959 in 2000 (#1) and 6,918 in 2020 (#18).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 26,542, in 1999. Its best rank in any year was #1, first reached in 1996.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Emily, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 210 | #100 |
| 1881 | 244 | #90 |
| 1882 | 272 | #95 |
| 1883 | 342 | #81 |
| 1884 | 364 | #81 |
| 1885 | 346 | #87 |
| 1886 | 369 | #93 |
| 1887 | 335 | #98 |
| 1888 | 457 | #90 |
| 1889 | 429 | #93 |
| 1890 | 509 | #86 |
| 1891 | 444 | #95 |
| 1892 | 518 | #94 |
| 1893 | 506 | #95 |
| 1894 | 551 | #93 |
| 1895 | 605 | #89 |
| 1896 | 527 | #96 |
| 1897 | 619 | #88 |
| 1898 | 628 | #94 |
| 1899 | 569 | #96 |
| 1900 | 626 | #105 |
| 1901 | 537 | #99 |
| 1902 | 606 | #97 |
| 1903 | 558 | #101 |
| 1904 | 599 | #103 |
| 1905 | 683 | #100 |
| 1906 | 619 | #103 |
| 1907 | 714 | #100 |
| 1908 | 732 | #103 |
| 1909 | 749 | #103 |
| 1910 | 785 | #110 |
| 1911 | 909 | #103 |
| 1912 | 1,147 | #105 |
| 1913 | 1,386 | #99 |
| 1914 | 1,650 | #98 |
| 1915 | 2,091 | #99 |
| 1916 | 2,213 | #100 |
| 1917 | 2,220 | #103 |
| 1918 | 2,361 | #105 |
| 1919 | 2,307 | #105 |
| 1920 | 2,168 | #119 |
| 1921 | 2,184 | #121 |
| 1922 | 2,146 | #121 |
| 1923 | 2,057 | #128 |
| 1924 | 2,044 | #136 |
| 1925 | 1,767 | #145 |
| 1926 | 1,729 | #142 |
| 1927 | 1,656 | #146 |
| 1928 | 1,559 | #150 |
| 1929 | 1,444 | #151 |
| 1930 | 1,344 | #154 |
| 1931 | 1,186 | #159 |
| 1932 | 1,147 | #168 |
| 1933 | 1,062 | #171 |
| 1934 | 1,067 | #175 |
| 1935 | 1,094 | #173 |
| 1936 | 1,123 | #171 |
| 1937 | 1,293 | #161 |
| 1938 | 1,308 | #164 |
| 1939 | 1,292 | #163 |
| 1940 | 1,269 | #164 |
| 1941 | 1,368 | #162 |
| 1942 | 1,419 | #164 |
| 1943 | 1,336 | #174 |
| 1944 | 1,251 | #170 |
| 1945 | 1,134 | #181 |
| 1946 | 1,379 | #186 |
| 1947 | 1,470 | #187 |
| 1948 | 1,391 | #194 |
| 1949 | 1,392 | #196 |
| 1950 | 1,316 | #203 |
| 1951 | 1,287 | #212 |
| 1952 | 1,392 | #207 |
| 1953 | 1,325 | #220 |
| 1954 | 1,342 | #218 |
| 1955 | 1,304 | #223 |
| 1956 | 1,282 | #230 |
| 1957 | 1,207 | #246 |
| 1958 | 1,171 | #254 |
| 1959 | 1,213 | #251 |
| 1960 | 1,225 | #251 |
| 1961 | 1,147 | #265 |
| 1962 | 1,079 | #273 |
| 1963 | 1,108 | #269 |
| 1964 | 1,131 | #268 |
| 1965 | 1,288 | #238 |
| 1966 | 1,249 | #237 |
| 1967 | 1,204 | #239 |
| 1968 | 1,326 | #225 |
| 1969 | 1,575 | #198 |
| 1970 | 1,931 | #173 |
| 1971 | 1,866 | #166 |
| 1972 | 2,334 | #131 |
| 1973 | 3,027 | #99 |
| 1974 | 4,329 | #69 |
| 1975 | 5,482 | #48 |
| 1976 | 5,547 | #50 |
| 1977 | 6,879 | #37 |
| 1978 | 7,473 | #33 |
| 1979 | 7,971 | #34 |
| 1980 | 9,001 | #31 |
| 1981 | 10,799 | #29 |
| 1982 | 12,519 | #24 |
| 1983 | 12,377 | #25 |
| 1984 | 12,786 | #24 |
| 1985 | 13,144 | #24 |
| 1986 | 13,236 | #24 |
| 1987 | 14,710 | #19 |
| 1988 | 15,869 | #18 |
| 1989 | 17,323 | #13 |
| 1990 | 19,370 | #12 |
| 1991 | 20,311 | #10 |
| 1992 | 21,835 | #7 |
| 1993 | 23,596 | #5 |
| 1994 | 24,154 | #3 |
| 1995 | 24,382 | #3 |
| 1996 | 25,150 | #1 |
| 1997 | 25,734 | #1 |
| 1998 | 26,188 | #1 |
| 1999 | 26,542 | #1 |
| 2000 | 25,959 | #1 |
| 2001 | 25,059 | #1 |
| 2002 | 24,470 | #1 |
| 2003 | 25,693 | #1 |
| 2004 | 25,042 | #1 |
| 2005 | 23,952 | #1 |
| 2006 | 21,412 | #1 |
| 2007 | 19,367 | #1 |
| 2008 | 17,448 | #3 |
| 2009 | 15,366 | #6 |
| 2010 | 14,281 | #6 |
| 2011 | 14,277 | #6 |
| 2012 | 13,666 | #6 |
| 2013 | 13,144 | #7 |
| 2014 | 12,670 | #7 |
| 2015 | 11,808 | #8 |
| 2016 | 11,006 | #9 |
| 2017 | 9,817 | #12 |
| 2018 | 8,718 | #12 |
| 2019 | 8,259 | #12 |
| 2020 | 6,918 | #18 |
| 2021 | 6,594 | #21 |
| 2022 | 6,498 | #17 |
| 2023 | 6,177 | #19 |
| 2024 | 5,984 | #25 |
| 2025 | 5,451 | #34 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.