Declining since 2009, #14,942 for girls today.
Popularity of Emmah since 1998
Babies named Emmah per year in U.S. Social Security records.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 18 |
| 2000s | 455 |
| 2010s | 420 |
| 2020s | 63 |
Meaning & origin
Emmah is a modern respelling of Emma that first entered U.S. baby name records in 1998. It rose to a peak rank of 14,942 in 2008, but has been falling in usage since 2009, reflecting the broader ebb of Emma-variant names after that decade. Currently, about 1 in every 321,453 newborn girls receives the name Emmah, placing it far outside the top 1,000. The spelling likely appeals to parents who want the classic charm of Emma with a distinctive touch. Emmah has not been recorded among top states, suggesting its use is diffuse rather than regionally concentrated.
Emmah is a modern spelling variant of Emma, itself a short form of Germanic names beginning with *ermen-* meaning 'whole' or 'universal'. The name Emma was popularized in England by the Norman Conquest and later by Jane Austen's 1815 novel *Emma*. The variant Emmah is a recent phonetic respelling, first appearing in U.S. records in 1998, reflecting a trend toward distinctive spellings of classic names.
“Emmah” around the world
Where Emmah lands in the latest official birth statistics abroad, matched to the U.S. spelling.
France
5
babies in 2024
Sources: INSEE (France).
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Em, Emma
Sibling names for Emmah
Names that share Emmah's style, for a brother or sister.
