Name histories / Emma
Emma: U.S. name history
Published Social Security birth-name counts for the exact spelling Emma in the female recorded field, 1880–2025.
In the latest file, Emma was at position 3 among published female-field spellings, with 12,754 recorded births. That is down 770 from 13,524 in 2024. Its first released row in this archive is from 1880; a missing earlier row does not establish when the name began to exist.
What the historical pattern shows
Emma has two very different high points in the historical record. It was already third among published female-field spellings in 1880, retreated to position 422 by 1975, then returned to the top of the list in the early 2000s.
The largest annual count for Emma in this archive was in 2003. It held first position again in 2015, then stood third in 2025. Reading both count and position prevents a modern top-three ranking from hiding the much older wave.
Selected annual records
| Birth year | Published count | Position* |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 2,003 | 3 |
| 1900 | 3,095 | 13 |
| 1925 | 4,714 | 57 |
| 1950 | 1,896 | 154 |
| 1975 | 477 | 422 |
| 1990 | 2,420 | 130 |
| 2000 | 12,560 | 17 |
| 2003 | 22,719 | 2 |
| 2010 | 17,366 | 3 |
| 2015 | 20,487 | 1 |
| 2020 | 15,723 | 2 |
| 2024 | 13,524 | 2 |
| 2025 | 12,754 | 3 |
*Position is calculated from the published entries in one year and field, ordered by count; it is not an official SSA rank. Counts are not adjusted for population or coverage. SSA suppresses small cells, so no row does not mean zero births.
Keep exploring
Compare Olivia · Evelyn; inspect any spelling in the annual popularity tool; or see the 2025 overview.
Sources: SSA national data and suppression rules · our data method. Data reviewed 1 November 2026.