Emiya
Ancient Japanese name meaning "born at the foot of a mountain".
Name Census estimates that about 374 living Americans carry the first name Emiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emiya today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emiya births was 2010 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emiya. 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 Emiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
374
~ 1 in 916,455 Americans
Peak year
2010
24 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,361
Tracked since 1998
Census
Emiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 247 people with the first name Emiya, which placed it at #33,475 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
#33,475
National first-name rank
People counted
247
247 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emiya is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.1%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Emiya 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 Emiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.1% · 193
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 20
- Two or more races6.5% · 16
- White5.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Emiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emiya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 179 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Emiya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Emiya 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 Emiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Emiya
The given name Emiya is a relatively uncommon name with its origins rooted in the Japanese language. It is believed to have originated during the Muromachi period (1336-1573 CE) in Japan, which was a time of great cultural and artistic flourishing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Emiya can be found in the historical records of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868 CE). During this time, the name was associated with a family of skilled swordsmiths who were renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship in creating katanas and other bladed weapons.
The name Emiya itself is thought to be derived from the Japanese words "emi" (meaning "blessing" or "good fortune") and "ya" (meaning "house" or "dwelling"). This suggests that the name may have been initially given to individuals or families who were considered blessed or fortunate, perhaps due to their talents or achievements.
In the realm of literature, the name Emiya appears in several traditional Japanese folktales and stories. One notable example is the tale of "Emiya no Monogatari," which tells the story of a skilled archer named Emiya who was renowned for his exceptional marksmanship and bravery in battle.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Emiya:
1. Emiya Masatoshi (1570-1632) – A renowned samurai and military strategist who served under the Tokugawa Shogunate.
2. Emiya Shigenobu (1787-1856) – A prominent scholar and calligrapher during the Edo period in Japan.
3. Emiya Tomiko (1901-1975) – A pioneering Japanese writer and feminist who advocated for women's rights and education.
4. Emiya Yoshikazu (1916-1944) – A Japanese pilot who served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite for his bravery in combat.
5. Emiya Masahiro (born 1958) – A contemporary Japanese artist known for his intricate woodblock prints and sculptures.
While the name Emiya may not be widely known outside of Japan, its rich historical and cultural significance within Japanese society has ensured that it has endured as a meaningful and respected name for centuries.
People
Emiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emiya 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
Emiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 374 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emiya 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 916,455 US residents.
Is Emiya a common name?
We classify Emiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 378 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Emiya was 2010, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emiya is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 247 people with the name Emiya, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,475 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 Emiya 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 Emiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emiya leans strongly female. 239 people counted with this name were female (94.8%), compared with 13 male bearers (5.2%). 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 Emiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emiya is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.1%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Emiya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Emiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (193 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 Emiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emiya 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 Emiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emiya 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 Emiya 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 Emiya as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Emiya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.