Emily

English feminine form of Aemilius (see Emil ). Chaucer used it in the form Emelye in his 14th-century story The Knight's Tale (one of The Canterbury Tales ). In the English-speaking world it was not common until after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century; the princess Amelia Sophia (1711-1786) was commonly known as Emily in English, even though Amelia is an unrelated name. This name was moderately popular through most of the 20th century, and became very popular around the turn of the 21st century. It was the highest ranked name for girls in the United States from 1996 to 2007, attaining similar levels in other English-speaking countries around the same time. Famous bearers include the British author Emily Brontë (1818-1848), known for the novel Wuthering Heights, and the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).

Emily climbed to #1 for girls from 1996 through 2007. It remains prominent at #34 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1999, with 26,542 births.