Emiliano
Meaning
rival, eager; rising in popularity; honoring revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata
The story
Emiliano is the Spanish and Italian form of the Latin Aemilianus, built on the old Roman family name Aemilius, traditionally read as rival or eager, though the root is disputed enough to hedge. In Mexico the name belongs to Emiliano Zapata before it belongs to anyone else, and our own data files it in both our Spanish and Mexican American naming communities as well as among revolutionaries. Its American curve is recent and almost vertical: about 960 babies in the 1990s, 7,700 in the 2000s, and more than 16,000 in each of the last two decades. Names that climb like that are usually short or newly invented. Emiliano is neither. It runs to four syllables in Spanish and asks English speakers to commit, and families are choosing it anyway, which tells you something about who is doing the choosing.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Emiliano peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
4,361 people · the #3,016 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 47,619 · median age 43
Among people named Emiliano living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 117 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Emiliano
Most people given the name Emiliano 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.
The Emiliano deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Emiliano 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 Emiliano fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Emiliano · Middle names for Emiliano · Spanish baby names · Mexican American baby names · Names of revolutionaries and liberators
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