Emma

Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element irmin, meaning “whole” or “great” (Proto-Germanic *ermunaz), Emma was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, wife of King Ethelred II and, by him, mother of Edward the Confessor, and later wife of King Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian saint sometimes called Hemma. After the Norman Conquest, the name became common in England, was revived in the 18th century, perhaps helped by Matthew Prior’s 1709 poem Henry and Emma, and was later used by Jane Austen for Emma Woodhouse in Emma (1816). In the United States, it ranked third in 1880 behind Mary and Anna, declined over the next century, then rose again in the 1980s and became the most popular girls’ name in 2008; similar popularity was seen in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. Notable bearers include Emma Thompson, Emma Stone, and Emma Watson.

Emma has completed an unusual full-circle journey. It ranked #3 for girls in 1880, fell to #463 by 1976, and then returned to #3 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2003, with 22,719 births.