How Many People Are Named Emma?
An estimated 548,640 people in the United States have the first name Emma. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #73 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 20 years old, and Emma peaked in popularity in 2003 with 22,756 births that year. It has a similar number of bearers to Larry (547,387).
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Emma as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Emma paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Emma is overwhelmingly female, 1,718 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
548,640
About 1 in 625 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
20
years old
Peak Year
2003
22,756 births
Total Registered
765,264
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Emma
Emma is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 765,264 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Emma as a male name
Ranked #5,710 in 2024
16 male births in 2024
Peak: 2004 (102 births)
Emma as a female name
Ranked #2 in 2024
13,485 female births in 2024
Peak: 2003 (22,719 births)
Emma: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Emma span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 195,190 babies were registered. While Emma is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Emma by Decade
How has Emma tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 25,512 | 108 | 25,404 | |
| 1890s | 28,763 | 111 | 28,652 | |
| 1900s | 24,268 | 92 | 24,176 | |
| 1910s | 41,963 | 144 | 41,819 | |
| 1920s | 46,730 | 192 | 46,538 | |
| 1930s | 30,230 | 208 | 30,022 | |
| 1940s | 22,900 | 113 | 22,787 | |
| 1950s | 14,658 | 44 | 14,614 | |
| 1960s | 7,009 | 18 | 6,991 | |
| 1970s | 4,683 | 16 | 4,667 | |
| 1980s | 10,448 | 62 | 10,386 | |
| 1990s | 58,320 | 70 | 58,250 | |
| 2000s | 181,690 | 297 | 181,393 | |
| 2010s | 195,190 | 162 | 195,028 | |
| 2020s | 72,900 | 81 | 72,819 | |
Emma by State
Birth registrations for Emma span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont. On average, about 13,400 Emmas were registered per state.
Emma + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Emma as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Emma
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
Emma: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emma?
We estimate approximately 548,640 people named Emma are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 625 Americans share this first name.
Is Emma a common name?
Emma is classified as "Very Common" and is more popular than 99.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 765,264 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Emma most popular?
Emma reached peak popularity in 2003, when 22,756 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Emma is approximately 20 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Emma a female name?
Emma is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Emma Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Emma Smith, Emma Johnson, Emma Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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