Emaline
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to the French word meaning "amiable".
Name Census estimates that about 1,142 living Americans carry the first name Emaline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emaline today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emaline births was 2016 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emaline. 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.
Key insights
- • Emaline is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 300,135 Americans
Peak year
2016
73 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,179
Tracked since 1885
Census
Emaline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 994 people with the first name Emaline, which placed it at #12,493 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
#12,493
National first-name rank
People counted
994
994 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emaline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emaline is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Emaline 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 Emaline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 815
- Two or more races5.7% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 27
- Black or African American2.3% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 20
Popularity
Emaline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emaline from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 539 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Emaline remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emaline 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 Emaline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Emalines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Emaline, while Utah, Tennessee, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emaline
The name Emaline is an English variation of the French name Aimeline, which is derived from the Germanic name Amalina. The name Amalina is composed of the Germanic elements "amal," meaning "work" or "labor," and the suffix "-ina," which was a common feminine name ending.
The earliest recorded use of the name Emaline dates back to the late 13th century in England, where it was spelled as "Emmelyne." It is believed that the name was introduced to England by French settlers and gradually evolved into its current spelling over time.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Emaline was Emaline Peyton (1586-1633), an English noblewoman and the daughter of Sir Thomas Peyton. She was known for her involvement in the court of King James I and her patronage of the arts.
Another notable Emaline from history was Emaline Griffith (1756-1818), an American Quaker and activist who played a significant role in the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania. She was a prominent member of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and worked tirelessly to promote the rights of enslaved individuals.
In the literary world, Emaline is the name of a character in the novel "The Bride of Lammermoor" by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1819. The character, Emaline Geddes, is portrayed as a virtuous and compassionate young woman who becomes entangled in a tragic love story.
One of the most famous individuals named Emaline was Emaline Pankhurst (1858-1928), a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement. She dedicated her life to campaigning for women's right to vote and played a pivotal role in the eventual passage of the Representation of the People Act in 1918, which granted some women the right to vote.
Lastly, Emaline Beavers (1866-1944) was an American educator and civil rights activist from Texas. She was a pioneering figure in the field of African American education and worked tirelessly to establish and improve schools for Black children in her community.
People
Emaline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emaline 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
Emaline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emaline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,142 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emaline 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 300,135 US residents.
Is Emaline a common name?
We classify Emaline as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,873 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emaline most popular?
The single biggest year for Emaline was 2016, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emaline is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emaline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 994 people with the name Emaline, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,493 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 Emaline 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 Emaline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emaline appears almost entirely female. Of the 993 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Emaline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emaline is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Emaline most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Emaline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (815 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 Emaline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emaline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emaline 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 Emaline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emaline 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 Emaline 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 Emaline as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Emaline, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.