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Girl · Old High German / Frankish
Emma
Say it: EM-uh
Meaning
Germanic short form of names beginning with ermen/irmin 'whole, great, universal'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Brought to England by Emma of Normandy in the 11th century; it is among the most popular names in Europe and America today.
Its wave through time
A revival, back after decades away
In the United States
- 707,552 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1885, about 1 in 49 girls
- 15,598 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The Viking and Anglo-Saxon Age700 to 1100
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Emme, Imma
| German | Emma |
|---|---|
| French | Emma |
| Italian | Emma |
| Spanish | Emma |
| Dutch | Emma |
| Swedish | Emma |
| Spanish | Ema |
Famous bearers
- Emma of Normandy, queen of England
- Emma, Jane Austen's heroine
- Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, queen of the Netherlands
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- Well-known works of literature
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- Medieval European charters and records
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- Anglo-Saxon charters, chronicles and church records
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.