Emilio
A masculine name of Italian origin meaning "emulator" or "rival".
Name Census estimates that about 46,599 living Americans carry the first name Emilio. It sits at #152 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Emilio today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emilio births was 2024 (2,358 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emilio. 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 Emilio with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Emilio is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 58 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
47K
~ 1 in 7,355 Americans
Peak year
2024
2,358 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#152
Tracked since 1882
Census
Emilio in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 46,299 people with the first name Emilio, which placed it at #953 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
#953
National first-name rank
People counted
46K
46,299 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
15.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emilio
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emilio is Hispanic at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). 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 Emilio 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 Emilio at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.6% · 41,491
- White6.4% · 2,952
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 917
- Black or African American1.0% · 461
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 259
- Two or more races0.5% · 219
Gender
Gender distribution for Emilio
Out of the 51,599 babies given the name Emilio since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Emilio as a male name
- Ranked #152 in 2024
- 2,358 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (2,358 births)
Emilio as a female name
- Ranked #16,914 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1983 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emilio appears almost entirely male. Of the 46,295 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Emilio: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emilio from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 12,762 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Emilio remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emilio 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 Emilio during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Emilios live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Emilio, while South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,048 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emilio
The name Emilio is of Italian origin, derived from the Latin name Aemilius. The name Aemilius itself is believed to have originated from the Latin word "aemulus," meaning "rival" or "competitor." This suggests that the name may have been associated with a sense of ambition or a competitive spirit in ancient Roman culture.
The earliest recorded use of the name Emilio can be traced back to ancient Rome. One of the most notable historical figures bearing this name was Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus, a Roman politician and military leader who lived in the 3rd century BC. He was known for his role in the Second Punic War against Carthage and his cautious military strategy, which earned him the nickname "Cunctator" (the Delayer).
Another prominent figure in Roman history with the name Emilio was Lucius Aemilius Paullus, a Roman consul and military commander who defeated the Macedonian King Perseus at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC. His victory effectively ended the reign of the Antigonid dynasty and secured Roman control over Macedonia.
During the Renaissance period, the name Emilio gained popularity in Italy. One of the most famous figures from this era was Emilio de' Cavalieri, an Italian composer and music theorist who lived from 1550 to 1602. He is considered one of the pioneers of opera and is credited with composing one of the earliest operas, "Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo" (Representation of Soul and Body), in 1600.
In the 19th century, Emilio Castelar y Ripoll, a Spanish republican leader and writer, made a significant impact on Spanish politics. He was born in 1832 and served as the President of the First Spanish Republic from 1873 to 1874, advocating for democratic values and societal reforms.
More recently, Emilio Estevez, the American actor and filmmaker born in 1962, has carried on the legacy of the name. He is known for his roles in films such as "The Breakfast Club," "St. Elmo's Fire," and "The Mighty Ducks" franchise, as well as his work as a director and screenwriter.
Throughout history, the name Emilio has been associated with ambition, leadership, and artistic expression, reflecting the diverse cultural influences that have shaped its meaning and significance over time.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Emilio
People
Emilio + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emilio 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
Emilio: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emilio?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 46,599 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emilio 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 7,355 US residents.
Is Emilio a common name?
We classify Emilio as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 51,599 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emilio most popular?
The single biggest year for Emilio was 2024, when 2,358 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emilio 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 Emilio in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 46,299 people with the name Emilio, or 15.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #953 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 Emilio 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 Emilio?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emilio appears almost entirely male. Of the 46,295 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Emilio?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emilio is Hispanic at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). 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 Emilio most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Emilio in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.6% (41,491 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 Emilio in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emilio a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Emilio in the SSA data are male. 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 Emilio still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emilio 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 Emilio 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 are called Emilio?
You can see how many people share the name Emilio on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.