Name of the Week

Sweet and sturdy Emily is a name of gentle
refinery and literary heritage.

 

Origin:

Emily derives from the Latin Aemilia, the feminine form of Aemilius, the name of a notable Roman gens. The medieval Italian form was Emilia, used most notably by Boccaccio for his epic poem Teseida (1340) which told the tale of the rivalry between Palemone and Arcita for the beautiful Emilia's hand. The work was influential and sparked the name's use widely in literature.  Chaucer's The Knights Tale was heavily based on Teseida and there we find Emilia anglicised as Emelye.  The Roman Aemilius has often been connected with the Latin aemulus "rival." It seems Boccaccio was certainly thinking of this when he wrote of the great rivalry of Palemone and Arcita for Emilia's love. However, many of the Roman gens had names that were taken from a famous 'ancestor'. The gens Aemilia, originally spelt Aimilia, were said to be descended from Mamercus, a son of the Roman king Numa Pompilius or Pythagoras. Mamercus was said to been called Aemylos — from the Greek aimulos "wily, persuasive, flattering"— because of his persuasive abilities.  Over the years, Emilia became much conflated with Amelia though the two have very separate origins: Amelia is a form of the Germanic Amalia from amal "work." In the 18th century, when Amelia became fashionable thanks to the Hanovarians, Emily was sometimes used as an anglicised form.

Usage:

Having been popularised in literature, Emilia was used in several examples of literature, including Shakespeare's Othello (1603). Emily and Emilia was used occasionally in Britain in the 16th and 17th century, but didn't become used consistently until the 18th century when Amelia became fashionable.  Both the Hanovarian princesses called Amelia — Princess Amelia Sophia Eleanor (1711-1786), daughter of George II and Princess Amelia (1783-1810), daughter of George III — were called "Emily" by their family and contemporaries. It seems likely that the wider aristocracy who used Amelia for their daughters also followed suit. Certainly, Lady Emily Lennox, Duchess of Leinster (1731-1814), one of the famous Lennox Sisters, was given the name Amelia Mary. Emily steadily grew in popularity over the course of the 19th century to become one of the most popular names of the era. In England and Wales, Emily ranked #8 in 1870, #10 in 1880, #11 in 1890 and #21 in 1900. It was still popular at the beginning of the 20th century but steadily declined to #70 in 1924, after which it fell out of the top 100. It returned again in 1974 at #80 and proceded to rocket up the charts to #8 in 1996. In Scotland, Emily ranked #62 in 1900 but had fallen out of the top 100 by 1950 and 1975. Leslie Dunkling's data for the number of girls registered with the name Emily in every 10,000 births in England and Wales, also shows how the name declined and then rose over the 20th century:  1900 1925  1935 1950 1955 1960  1965  1970  1975  1980  1985  1990   157     34     12    4       7     4    11    33    68    72   160 In the last two decades Emily has enjoyed top 10 status across Britain.  In England and Wales, Emily reached its highest rank of #1 in 2003 and 2004, though its highest birth count was in 1999 when it ranked #2 with 6760 births. It has been in the top 5 consistently for the last 18 years.  In Scotland, Emily peaked at #2 in 2012 with 489 births.  In Northern Ireland, Emily reached #1 in 2013 for the first time, though its precious rank in 2012 at #2 had a higher birth count of 218.  Individually in 2013, Emily ranked #3 in England, #5 in Wales, #3 in Scotland and #1 in Northern Ireland.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Emily Brontë (1818–1848), British novelist. * Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), American poet. * Emily Gerard (1849–1905), British author. * Emily Greene Balch (1867–1961), American academic, pacifist and Nobel Laureate. * Emily Carr (1871–1945), Canadian artist and writer. * Emily Davison (1872–1913), British suffragette. * Emily Post (1872–1960), American author on etiquette. * Emily Shenkl (1910–1996), a leader in the Indian Independence Movement. Contemporary: * Emily Watson (b. 1967), British actress. * Emily Mortimer (b. 1971), British actress. * Emily Deschanel (b. 1976), American actress. * Emily Blunt (b.1983), British actress. * Emily Browning (b. 1988), Australian actress. Literature and Other Media: * Emily Pollifax, heroine of Dorothy Gilman's spy-mystery novels. * Emily Byrd Starr, heroine of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Emily of New Moon novels. * Emily Young, character in The Twilight Saga. * Emily, the little girl in Bagpuss. * Emily, a character in the comic strip Peanuts. Other: * Emily, song on Elton John's album The One.

Variants:

Emilie, Emilia

Pronunciation:

EM-ə-lee [key]

Possible  Diminutives:

Emmy, Ellie, Milly, Mimi

Sibling Names:

Sophie     Lucy     Florence     Mollie     Alice     Sarah  Harry     James     George     Joshua     William     Samuel

Name Lists:

Gorgeously Georgian   Dickensian Names   Names from Enid Blyton   Names of Roses

 

If you like Emily you may also like:  Amelie, Charlotte, Annie, Olivia, Madeleine, Amy, Grace, Isabelle, Jessica, Emmeline

 

Thanks to Rachel Emma for requesting this post.