Emmaley
A feminine name combining the names Emma and Ley or Leigh.
Name Census estimates that about 35 living Americans carry the first name Emmaley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Emmaley today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emmaley births was 2005 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emmaley. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Emmaley. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
35
~ 1 in 9,792,981 Americans
Peak year
2005
10 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2014 SSA rank
#15,152
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Emmaley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emmaley from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 29 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
Emmaley 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 Emmaley 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 Emmaley
The name Emmaley is a relatively modern English name that appears to have emerged in the late 20th century. It is a combination of the popular names Emma and Ley (or Leigh). The name Emma has its roots in the Germanic word "ermen," meaning "whole" or "universal," and was initially used as a diminutive form of other Germanic names like Irmingard or Ermelinda.
The earliest recorded use of the name Emma dates back to the 11th century, when it was borne by Emma of Normandy, the wife of two English kings, Ethelred the Unready and Canute the Great. Another notable Emma was Emma of Anjou, the daughter of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, who lived in the 12th century.
In the 13th century, Emma of Lesum was a German mystic and Benedictine nun who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. During the Renaissance period, Emma Bovary was the protagonist of Gustave Flaubert's famous novel "Madame Bovary," published in 1856.
The name Ley or Leigh, which forms the second part of Emmaley, is derived from Old English words meaning "meadow" or "clearing." It was initially used as a topographic surname before becoming a given name in its own right.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Emmaley was Emmaley Munson, an American actress born in 1981. Other notable bearers of the name include Emmaley Jones, a British artist and illustrator born in 1992, and Emmaley Snider, an American singer and songwriter born in 1997.
While the name Emmaley is relatively uncommon, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and melodic combination of two established names. Its roots in both Germanic and Old English language traditions give it a rich historical background, and its modern usage reflects the trend towards creative and personalized name choices.
People
Emmaley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emmaley 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
Emmaley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emmaley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 35 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emmaley 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 9,792,981 US residents.
Is Emmaley a common name?
We classify Emmaley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 48.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emmaley most popular?
The single biggest year for Emmaley was 2005, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emmaley is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Emmaley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emmaley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emmaley 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 Emmaley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emmaley 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 Emmaley 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Emmaley?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.