ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1896 First Year 1960 Last Year 1915 Peak Year #3134 Peak Rank 134 Total Count 21 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Emil What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. The name Emil, Emile, or Émile is a male given name of Indo-European origin. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil%5F%28given%5Fname%29) ### Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name) * Swedish * Norwegian * Danish * German * Romanian * Bulgarian * Czech * Slovak * Polish * Russian * Slovene * Serbian * Croatian * Macedonian * Hungarian * Icelandic * English 📖 ## The Story of Emil Emil first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1880, with 119 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1917: 1,004 births, good for #137 nationwide. About 22% of every Emil on record arrived during the 1920s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Emil ranks #1,173 for baby boys with 176 births, rising sharply (+21% over the past five years). All told, over 33K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1880s to the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🔗 ## Variants & Related Forms of Emil Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Emil. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Mille](/mille) 🌐 ## Where is Emil most common? Predicted country distribution based on naming patterns globally. * 🇷🇴Romania74% * 🇪🇬Egypt10% * 🏳️AZ6% * 🇭🇺Hungary6% * 🇩🇰Denmark4% Source: [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). Probabilities are global naming-pattern estimates, not strict counts. 🎶 ## Names that sound like Emil Phonetically similar names — useful when Emil is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Emel](/emel) * Emal * Emmel * Emall * Emol * [Emile](/emile) * [Amil](/amil) * [Amiel](/amiel) * [Emmy](/emmy) * [Emy](/emy) * [Emi](/emi) * [Emmie](/emmie) Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Emil What does the name Emil mean? The name Emil, Emile, or Émile is a male given name of Indo-European origin. What is the origin of the name Emil? Emil has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Romanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Icelandic, English. How popular is Emil in 2026? In 2026, Emil ranks #1,173 among boys' names in the U.S., with 176 babies given the name that year. When was Emil most popular? Emil reached its peak popularity in 1917, ranking #90 that year with 1,004 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Emil most popular? Emil has historically been most popular in North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Emil. Is Emil a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Emil is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name. What names go well with Emil? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Emil include Gilbert, Amir, Kayden. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. What are nicknames or variants of Emil? Common variants and related forms of Emil include Mille. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms. ## Similar Names [👧MagiePeak #3134](/magie)[👧GladysePeak #3134](/gladyse)[👧VoraPeak #3134](/vora)[👧RagnhildPeak #3134](/ragnhild)[👧DellePeak #3134](/delle)[👧LeoriaPeak #3134](/leoria)[👧AltiaPeak #3134](/altia)[👧ChiyonoPeak #3134](/chiyono) ## About the name Emil Emil is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 33K births in the dataset. Emil's peak popularity came in 1917 when it ranked #90\. Use the chart and map above to compare Emil's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1917 → ](/year/1917) * [ Names of the 1910s → ](/decade/1910s) * [ Names starting with "E" → ](/letter/e) * [ Browse all boy names → ](/names/boys) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.