Emalee
A feminine name of English origin meaning "industrious" or "hardworking".
Name Census estimates that about 3,685 living Americans carry the first name Emalee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emalee today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emalee births was 2005 (236 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emalee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Emalee with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 93,013 Americans
Peak year
2005
236 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,696
Tracked since 1918
Census
Emalee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,180 people with the first name Emalee, which placed it at #5,413 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,413
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,180 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emalee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emalee is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Emalee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Emalee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 2,578
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 360
- Two or more races4.1% · 131
- Black or African American1.4% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 29
Popularity
Emalee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emalee from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,702 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emalee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Emalee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Emalees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Emalee, while Mississippi, Kansas, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emalee
The name Emalee originates from the Old English language and can be traced back to the 9th century. It is derived from the Germanic root words "amal," meaning "vigor" or "strength," and "leoht," meaning "light." The combination of these two words suggests that Emalee was likely a name given to a strong and radiant child.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Emalee can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, a collection of annals chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. In the entry for the year 867, a woman named Emalee is mentioned as the wife of a prominent Saxon lord.
During the Middle Ages, the name Emalee gained popularity among English nobility. One notable figure was Emalee of Warwick, a 12th-century noblewoman who was renowned for her charitable works and patronage of the arts. She founded several churches and monasteries in the Warwickshire region.
In the 16th century, Emalee Willoughby was a celebrated poet and writer during the Elizabethan era. Her work was praised for its lyrical beauty and insightful observations on the human condition. Unfortunately, many of her writings were lost over time, but a handful of her poems have been preserved in various anthologies.
During the 17th century, Emalee Fairfax was a prominent figure in the English Civil War. She was a staunch supporter of the Parliamentarian cause and played a crucial role in organizing supplies and resources for the Roundhead forces. Her bravery and leadership earned her the respect of both allies and opponents.
In the 19th century, Emalee Nightingale was a renowned British social reformer and the founder of modern nursing. Born in 1820, she dedicated her life to improving healthcare conditions and establishing professional nursing standards. Her work during the Crimean War earned her widespread recognition, and she became a symbol of compassion and selfless service.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Emalee. While the name may have fallen out of common usage in modern times, its rich history and meaningful origins serve as a testament to the strength and resilience of those who carried it.
People
Emalee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emalee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Emalee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emalee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,685 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emalee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 93,013 US residents.
Is Emalee a common name?
We classify Emalee as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,800 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emalee most popular?
The single biggest year for Emalee was 2005, when 236 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emalee is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emalee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,180 people with the name Emalee, or 1.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,413 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Emalee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Emalee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emalee appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,181 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Emalee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emalee is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Emalee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Emalee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (2,578 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Emalee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emalee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emalee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Emalee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emalee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Emalee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Emalee?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Emalee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.