Popularity of the name Emma, 1880–2025
Emma was at its most popular in 1881, when 2,034 girls were given the name: about 1 in 45 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #3. In 2025, 12,754 girls were named Emma, ranking #3. In all, Social Security counts 776,439 girls named Emma since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 1,733 boys named Emma. Its peak falls in the earliest years of the records, and counts from before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card.
- Peak year
- 1881
- Rank in 1881
- #3
- Babies in 1881
- 2,034
- Rank in 2025
- #3
- Total since 1880
- 776,439
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #1 in 2015 to #3 in 2025, with 20,487 girls named Emma in 2015 and 12,754 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Emma ranked highest in the 2010s, at #1, with 195,070 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #3 in the 1880s and #2 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 2,003 in 1880 (#3), 3,095 in 1900 (#13), 5,238 in 1920 (#46), 2,606 in 1940 (#94), 976 in 1960 (#297), 530 in 1980 (#416), 12,560 in 2000 (#17) and 15,723 in 2020 (#2).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 22,719, in 2003. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more girls for 2003 than for 1881, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank in any year was #1, first reached in 2008.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Emma, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 2,003 | #3 |
| 1881 | 2,034 | #3 |
| 1882 | 2,303 | #3 |
| 1883 | 2,367 | #3 |
| 1884 | 2,587 | #3 |
| 1885 | 2,728 | #3 |
| 1886 | 2,764 | #3 |
| 1887 | 2,647 | #4 |
| 1888 | 3,087 | #4 |
| 1889 | 2,884 | #5 |
| 1890 | 2,980 | #5 |
| 1891 | 2,884 | #5 |
| 1892 | 3,128 | #7 |
| 1893 | 2,968 | #9 |
| 1894 | 2,937 | #9 |
| 1895 | 2,952 | #10 |
| 1896 | 2,872 | #10 |
| 1897 | 2,698 | #10 |
| 1898 | 2,788 | #13 |
| 1899 | 2,445 | #13 |
| 1900 | 3,095 | #13 |
| 1901 | 2,374 | #17 |
| 1902 | 2,514 | #18 |
| 1903 | 2,308 | #23 |
| 1904 | 2,312 | #22 |
| 1905 | 2,298 | #26 |
| 1906 | 2,224 | #28 |
| 1907 | 2,356 | #27 |
| 1908 | 2,357 | #30 |
| 1909 | 2,338 | #34 |
| 1910 | 2,607 | #34 |
| 1911 | 2,616 | #35 |
| 1912 | 3,357 | #35 |
| 1913 | 3,474 | #38 |
| 1914 | 3,972 | #39 |
| 1915 | 5,044 | #40 |
| 1916 | 5,217 | #41 |
| 1917 | 5,121 | #46 |
| 1918 | 5,324 | #46 |
| 1919 | 5,087 | #45 |
| 1920 | 5,238 | #46 |
| 1921 | 5,072 | #52 |
| 1922 | 5,013 | #50 |
| 1923 | 4,977 | #53 |
| 1924 | 4,897 | #57 |
| 1925 | 4,714 | #57 |
| 1926 | 4,480 | #59 |
| 1927 | 4,327 | #64 |
| 1928 | 4,017 | #67 |
| 1929 | 3,803 | #69 |
| 1930 | 3,555 | #73 |
| 1931 | 3,307 | #76 |
| 1932 | 3,330 | #76 |
| 1933 | 3,152 | #75 |
| 1934 | 2,940 | #85 |
| 1935 | 2,802 | #89 |
| 1936 | 2,831 | #85 |
| 1937 | 2,750 | #89 |
| 1938 | 2,670 | #96 |
| 1939 | 2,685 | #89 |
| 1940 | 2,606 | #94 |
| 1941 | 2,546 | #99 |
| 1942 | 2,606 | #108 |
| 1943 | 2,422 | #114 |
| 1944 | 2,247 | #118 |
| 1945 | 2,052 | #123 |
| 1946 | 2,070 | #131 |
| 1947 | 2,141 | #141 |
| 1948 | 2,099 | #138 |
| 1949 | 1,999 | #147 |
| 1950 | 1,896 | #154 |
| 1951 | 1,731 | #174 |
| 1952 | 1,709 | #180 |
| 1953 | 1,590 | #195 |
| 1954 | 1,530 | #202 |
| 1955 | 1,460 | #211 |
| 1956 | 1,340 | #226 |
| 1957 | 1,217 | #243 |
| 1958 | 1,084 | #266 |
| 1959 | 1,056 | #270 |
| 1960 | 976 | #297 |
| 1961 | 892 | #307 |
| 1962 | 798 | #331 |
| 1963 | 724 | #352 |
| 1964 | 770 | #343 |
| 1965 | 640 | #359 |
| 1966 | 619 | #364 |
| 1967 | 564 | #385 |
| 1968 | 494 | #426 |
| 1969 | 516 | #426 |
| 1970 | 529 | #421 |
| 1971 | 474 | #442 |
| 1972 | 453 | #428 |
| 1973 | 419 | #447 |
| 1974 | 490 | #408 |
| 1975 | 477 | #422 |
| 1976 | 414 | #463 |
| 1977 | 479 | #423 |
| 1978 | 442 | #450 |
| 1979 | 488 | #428 |
| 1980 | 530 | #416 |
| 1981 | 534 | #412 |
| 1982 | 560 | #410 |
| 1983 | 551 | #398 |
| 1984 | 678 | #341 |
| 1985 | 947 | #263 |
| 1986 | 1,259 | #209 |
| 1987 | 1,589 | #175 |
| 1988 | 1,795 | #160 |
| 1989 | 1,938 | #149 |
| 1990 | 2,420 | #130 |
| 1991 | 2,595 | #123 |
| 1992 | 3,212 | #104 |
| 1993 | 4,108 | #80 |
| 1994 | 4,765 | #74 |
| 1995 | 5,050 | #67 |
| 1996 | 6,151 | #53 |
| 1997 | 7,749 | #36 |
| 1998 | 10,451 | #22 |
| 1999 | 11,751 | #17 |
| 2000 | 12,560 | #17 |
| 2001 | 13,327 | #13 |
| 2002 | 16,558 | #4 |
| 2003 | 22,719 | #2 |
| 2004 | 21,625 | #2 |
| 2005 | 20,362 | #2 |
| 2006 | 19,133 | #2 |
| 2007 | 18,390 | #3 |
| 2008 | 18,830 | #1 |
| 2009 | 17,910 | #2 |
| 2010 | 17,366 | #3 |
| 2011 | 18,825 | #3 |
| 2012 | 20,976 | #2 |
| 2013 | 20,973 | #2 |
| 2014 | 20,970 | #1 |
| 2015 | 20,487 | #1 |
| 2016 | 19,550 | #1 |
| 2017 | 19,873 | #1 |
| 2018 | 18,824 | #1 |
| 2019 | 17,226 | #2 |
| 2020 | 15,723 | #2 |
| 2021 | 15,549 | #2 |
| 2022 | 14,512 | #2 |
| 2023 | 13,590 | #2 |
| 2024 | 13,524 | #2 |
| 2025 | 12,754 | #3 |
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.