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Ema

#1,349 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Ema has been given to 4,857 babies in the U.S. since 1883. In 2025 it ranked #1,349 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 164 recorded.

Babies named Ema, 2025

1 in 20,200

Ema over time, 1880–2025

Girls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ema: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ema means

Ema has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Ema

A separate documented entry treats Ema as a form of Emma. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Ema is documented with more than one possible Japanese character combination. The Latin-letter spelling records a pronunciation; it does not specify one unique kanji spelling or one universal meaning.

Possible character meanings include favour, benefit, bay, inlet, flax.

Origin, language, and formation

Ema is used in Czech, Portuguese, Slovak and Slovene.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Emma and Emanuela.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Czech, Ema is pronounced [ˈɛma].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,857 girls were recorded with the name Ema between 1883 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 164 in 2025; its best national rank was #717 in 1883.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,513 in 2020 to #1,349 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,472 in 2015 to #1,349 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ema?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 20,200
164 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 9,800
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,349
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
14,013 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ema sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 14,013 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ema. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Emas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ema was born before 2008 — so the typical Ema is around 17 today.

Median birth year
2008
About 17 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
29.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
69.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
4,133
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 29.3% of all recorded uses (1,424).

Is Ema rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+212
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+164
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+123
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.05×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (164)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
12.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#717
1883

Where Ema is used

Across 2016–2025, Ema was most concentrated in Florida — about 1 in 4,545 girls, against 1 in 10,308 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in 50,000).

222 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Florida1 in 4,545
  2. 2New York1 in 6,667
  3. 3Arizona1 in 9,091
  4. 4New Jersey1 in 9,091
  5. 5Texas1 in 9,091
  6. 6California1 in 10,000
  7. 7Illinois1 in 11,111
  8. 8Michigan1 in 14,286

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ema around the world

Where Ema ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2025
    #951
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2005–2022
    #760
    in 2022
  • Northern Ireland
    2007–2023
    #391
    in 2023
  • Ireland
    2007–2025
    #718
    in 2025
  • France
    1900–2025
    #599
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #391
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #1,023
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1971–2010
    #801
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Ema

People whose public names include Ema, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Ema in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Ema. Linked forms have their own page here.

EmmaEmmyEnmaEnnaGema

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Ema by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,349
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 164
Best rank ever
#717
1883
Peak year
2025
164 that year
First recorded
1883
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,857
Count in 2025
164

Names similar to Ema

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

EmanEmaniEmaleeGemaEmaanEmariEmalynRemaEmarieZulemaDemaReemaEmalineRhemaEmayaSeemaSulemaJemaLemaNeemaDremaNyemaEmaryEmalynn

Names with a curve like Ema

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Ema, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AvalonIsadoraSofieEllyKaleaElaynaCallaAvrilMariellaJaelViviannaMarlie

Sibling names for Ema

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ema

Top names of 2025, Ema's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1883Girls' names starting with E