Emmanual
Of Hebrew origin meaning "God is with us".
Name Census estimates that about 467 living Americans carry the first name Emmanual. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Emmanual today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Emmanual births was 2000 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Emmanual. 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 Emmanual with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
467
~ 1 in 733,949 Americans
Peak year
2000
22 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,811
Tracked since 1963
Census
Emmanual in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 927 people with the first name Emmanual, which placed it at #13,131 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
#13,131
National first-name rank
People counted
927
927 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emmanual
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emmanual is Black at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (39.6%) and White (11.1%). 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 Emmanual 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 Emmanual at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.6% · 386
- Hispanic or Latino39.6% · 367
- White11.1% · 103
- Two or more races3.6% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 8
Popularity
Emmanual: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Emmanual from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 164 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
Emmanual 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 Emmanual 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 Emmanual
The given name Emmanual has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. The name is derived from the Hebrew phrase "Immanu El," which translates to "God is with us." This phrase is found in the Bible, specifically in the Book of Isaiah, and is a symbolic name referring to the prophesied birth of the Messiah.
The name gained widespread popularity during the early Christian era, as it was associated with the birth of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, the name is rendered as "Emmanuel" in the Greek language, which later evolved into the variations "Emmanual" and "Emanuel" in other languages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Emmanual can be found in the writings of the early Christian theologian Origen, who lived in the 3rd century AD. He mentioned the name in his commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, where he discussed the significance of the name and its connection to the prophecy in Isaiah.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Emmanual. One of the most famous is Emmanual Swedenborg (1688-1772), a Swedish philosopher, scientist, and Christian mystic whose works influenced various religious and spiritual movements.
Another prominent individual with this name was Emmanual Leutze (1816-1868), a German-American painter renowned for his historical works, including the iconic painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware."
In the realm of literature, Emmanual Roidis (1836-1904) was a notable Greek novelist and satirist whose works explored societal issues and critiqued the prevailing cultural norms of his time.
The name Emmanual also has a rich musical legacy. Emmanual Ax (born 1949) is a renowned American classical pianist who has won numerous Grammy Awards and is celebrated for his interpretations of works by composers such as Beethoven and Chopin.
Furthermore, Emmanual Chabrier (1841-1894) was a French Romantic composer best known for his orchestral works, including the famous "España" rhapsody, which evokes the spirit of Spanish music.
While these are just a few examples, the name Emmanual has been carried by many influential figures throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and disciplines.
People
Emmanual + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Emmanual 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
Emmanual: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Emmanual?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 467 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Emmanual 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 733,949 US residents.
Is Emmanual a common name?
We classify Emmanual as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 478 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Emmanual most popular?
The single biggest year for Emmanual was 2000, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Emmanual is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Emmanual in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 927 people with the name Emmanual, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,131 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 Emmanual 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 Emmanual?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Emmanual appears almost entirely male. Of the 922 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Emmanual?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Emmanual is Black at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (39.6%) and White (11.1%). 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 Emmanual most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Emmanual in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.6% (386 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 Emmanual in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Emmanual a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Emmanual 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 Emmanual still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Emmanual 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 Emmanual 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 Emmanual?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.