Given name & surname
Emir
“a prince; a ruler”
Emir is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “a prince; a ruler.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “a prince; a ruler.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Ottoman Turkish امیر (emir), from Arabic أَمِيرْ.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1970. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Emir is a variant of Emer. The history of Emer gives this family its wider story. Use of Emer was revived during the 20th century.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Emir through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5,620
- 5,615 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 546 babies
- 2025
- 546
- #551 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +107%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 546 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 551 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 106.5% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (71). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,655 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.
Emir’s family of names
In English usage, Emir shares an earlier linguistic root with Amir. Emir has a related form in Emer. Emir has a related form in Emear.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Emyrvariant
- Emmirlikely variant
- Emervariant
- Emyrevariant
- Emearevariant
- Emearvariant
- Emeerevariant
- Emirevariant
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Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Emir
- Emir KusturicaSerbian and French film director, screenwriter, writer, actor and musicianborn 1954
- Emir SpahićBosnian association football playerborn 1980
- Emir BajramiSwedish footballerborn 1988
- Emir KujovićSwedish footballerborn 1988
- Emir MutapčićBosnian basketball playerborn 1960
- Emir BekrićSerbian hurdlerborn 1991
- Emir PreldžićTurkish basketball player (born 1987)
- Emir DilaverTurkish-Austrian association football player (born 1991)
- Emir SulejmanovićBosnia and herzegovina and Finnish basketball playerborn 1995
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Emir, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Almir
“prince, commander”
>99% boys
Ameer
“a prince” · “from the treetop”
>99% boys
Yousef
“God will add”
>99% boys
Ehsan
“favor, kindness, beneficence”
>99% boys
Nasir
“one who offers his support”
>99% boys
Hamza
“having great strength”
>99% boys
Asil
Asil is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in Turkish.
87% boys · 13% girls
Cairo
“from the city in Egypt” · “one who is victorious; from the capital of Egypt”
95% boys · 5% girls