Given name & surname · also Polynesian
Ema
“one who is greatly loved”·“a serious woman”
Ema is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “one who is greatly loved” and “a serious woman”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Original GermanEmma
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “one who is greatly loved” and “a serious woman”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
How it developed
In Slovak usage, Ema developed from Emma.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1883. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ema through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 4,857
- 0 boys · 4,857 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 164 babies
- 2025
- 164
- #1,349 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +1%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 164 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,349 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 1.4% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (29). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 5,577 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ema’s family of names
In Czech usage, Ema has a diminutive in Emička. In Slovak usage, Ema developed from the German form Emma. In Slovak usage, Ema has a related form in Emanuela.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ema has relatives in 17 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Germanwhere Ema comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 15
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Emmaroot · German, Swedish
- Emmyequivalent
- Gemaequivalent
- Enmaequivalent
- Ennaequivalent
- Amaequivalent
- Imaequivalent
- Hemaequivalent
Show 7 moreShow fewer
People named Ema
- Emma GreenSwedish high jumper (born 1984)
- Hemma of GurkCarinthian princess, founder of Catholic churches and monasteries, and saint (c.980-1045)973–1045
- Ema KlinecSlovenian ski jumperborn 1998
- Princess Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-HoymRegent of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1802–1858)
- Queen Emma of HawaiiQueen consort of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 18631836–1885
- Ema HorvathAmerican actressborn 1994
- Emamode EdosioNigerian film maker and film directorborn 1990
- EmikaBritish DJ and music producer (1986-)
- Ema Derossi-BjelajacCroatian politician1926–2020
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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