Emery
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Meaning
traditionally "industrious ruler"
The story
Emery is an old name wearing new clothes. It descends from the Germanic Emmerich, traditionally read as industrious ruler, and it arrived in England with enough medieval force to leave Emery behind as a surname. Its American life has come in two acts. It appears steadily in the early records, the sort of solid, unshowy name a shopkeeper might have carried around 1900, then thinned out through the middle of the twentieth century. The revival is thoroughly modern: the records begin to stir again in the 1990s, and since the 2000s Emery has climbed sharply, reaching its highest point ever in the current decade, worn these days mostly by girls, who have claimed its soft ending as their own. Few names manage the trick twice: respectable a century ago, fresh again today, industrious indeed.
How popular is Emery around the world?
In the United States, 20,379 babies were named Emery between 2020 and 2025.
Emery is on the official records of the United States, Canada, South Australia, England and Wales, Mexico City and Brazil.
United States
1 in 1,100
In the United States, 20,379 babies were named Emery between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Emery peaked in the 2020s. In US birth records, Emery went mostly to boys before the 2000s and mostly to girls in every decade since.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 1,600
In Canada, 161 girls named Emery were born in 2024, the 168th most common name among girls that year.
In Canada, 72 boys named Emery were born in 2024, the 431st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Emery in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 12,000
In England and Wales, 27 girls named Emery were born in 2025, ranked 1,197th among girls that year.
In England and Wales, 20 boys named Emery were born in 2025, ranked 1,359th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Mexico City City
1 in 29,000
In Mexico City, there were 4 registrations of Emery in 2022.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Argentina
last on record 2023
Emery is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 78 people in Brazil were named Emery, ranked 49,053rd, with a median age of 56.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Ireland
last on record 2022
Emery is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Montevideo City
last on record 2006
Emery is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Scotland
last on record 2018
Emery is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Emery
Most people given the name Emery in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Emery · Names that go with Emery · Middle names for Emery · Gender-neutral names · Names that switched sides
The Emery deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Emery truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Emery fits with your family’s names and surname.
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