Name of the Week: Emma

 

Origin:

Emma is an Old Germanic name, originating as a hypocoristic form of names containing the first element ermin "whole, universal," such as Ermintrude, Ermingard and Erminhilt. Emma, and variants Imma and Ymma, quickly established themselves as given names in their own right by the tenth century.

Usage:

An early bearer of the name from the 7th century is Emma of Austrasia (d. 642), daughter of Theudebert II and wife of the Anglo-Saxon king Eadbald of Kent. The most notable early Emma -- for Britain at least -- was Emma of Normandy (c.985–1052), twice English queen consort to both King Aethelred, and his Danish successor, King Cnut. Emma was born in Normandy in around 985, the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Her mother, Gunnora, was Richard's mistress and, later, his second wife; his first had also been named Emma -- Emma of Paris (943–968) who died childless many years before Emma's birth. It is hard for us in modern times to reconcile the idea of having the same name as your father's deceased first wife, but it clearly didn't bother the medieval mind, and is perhaps testament to how common the name was for the Normans. When she arrived in England to be married to Aethelred, however, Emma was promptly given the "English" name Aelfgifu. Confusingly, it just so happened that Aelfgifu had been the name of Aethelred's first wife, and one of his daughters (yet again Emma received the name of a former wife). Although there were no etymological links between the names, "Aelfgifu" was as common to the English as "Emma" was to the Normans.  Emma and Cnut present a cross to Hyde Abbey. The lettering says ÆLFGYFV REGINA and CNVT REX Emma bore Aethelred three children and, though Aethelred already had at least nine children by his first marriage, Emma fought like a lioness to get her children good positions. This was a period of heavy raiding from Scandinavia and Aethelred struggled to keep hold of his kingdom under the Viking onslaught. In 1015, Cnut the Great, a Danish prince, invaded England and the English just couldn't hold out against his armies. Aethelred died in April 1016, and his eldest surviving son Edmund became king (despite the efforts of Emma to have her eldest son, Edward, made heir). However, Edmund died that November after being defeated comprehensively by the Danes, leaving Cnut as king.  As Cnut was keen to have all rival claimants to the throne removed, Emma stepped in to protect her children by marrying Cnut herself, ensuring her children's safety in Normandy. Through her marriage, Emma was once again Queen of England, and later Queen of Denmark and Norway. When, Cnut died, Emma once again stepped in to promote her children. She ensured that her son with Cnut, Harthacnut, became king of Denmark, and acted as regent of Wessex on his behalf in England. She also invited her eldest son, Edward, over from Normandy in an attempt to oust power away from her step-son Harold Harefoot. Needless to say, after much political wrangling, Emma succeeded in instating both her son Harthacnut as king of England, followed by her son Edward, whom we now know as Saint Edward the Confessor.  It is difficult to assess the impact that Emma herself had on the name Emma in England, as all the citations for the name in common use date from after the Norman Conquest when Emma''s great nephew, William the Conqueror, established the widespread dominance of Norman culture and language in England.  Also, for much of her time as Queen Consort, both to Aethelred and Cnut, Emma was known as Aelfgifu (see image right). The Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE) have 52 citations for Emma's recorded name. Of those, only 18 are spellings are of Emma/Imma/Ymma and most of these come from Emma's own biography Encomium Emmae Reginae which she commissioned herself after Cnut's death. The rest are all spellings of Aelfgifu or "Aelfgifu Emma." It may be that being known as Aelfgifu Emma helped pave the way for the name before the Norman Conquest. Equally her impact may have been very little, and the name subsequently became common thanks to the influx of Norman noblemen who flocked to England after the conquest. The Domesday Survey shows that by 1086, 48.5% of English land was in the hands of Norman barons, with only 5.5% owned by English lords.  What we can at least argue is that, without Emma, the Norman invasion may never have happened. It was actually thanks to Emma that William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy had a claim to the English throne -- something which is often overlooked in the history books. Emma was William's great aunt and therefore he was Edward's first cousin once removed. So, if only in a roundabout way, we can credit Queen Aelfgifu Emma with bringing the name Emma to Britain.  A cousin and close friend of William I, William FitzOsbern, became one of these great Norman magnates. His daughter Emma de Guader, Countess of Norfolk (1059 -1096) is also known for her strong character, having defended Norwich Castle when it was under siege for three months while her husband was away, negotiating safe passage for herself and her troops when the castle was eventually seized. Later she accompanied her husband of the First Crusade.  Redmond puts Emma at #7 in his rankings from ten English counties in 1377-1381, which he classifies as "Very Popular." During this period, the vernacular English form appears to have been Em/Emm/Emme* (with Emma/Imma as the Latinised form). This gained the diminutive ending -ot creating Emmot, which was not an uncommon name during the Middle Ages (often interchanged with Emma itself), and led the the creation of the surname Emmett.  Smith Bannister's rank of top 50 names from 1538 to 1670 in England shows Emma/Emme ranking in 9 out of 16 decades:  1538-49: #30; 1550-9: #24; 1560-9: #29; 1570-9: #23; 1580-9: #42; 1590-9: #32; 1600-9: #47; 1610-9: #44; 1640-9: #43.  Emmat, separately, also ranks twice in this data: 1550-9: #33; 1590-9: #36.  Emma was also the 31st most common name in Elizabethan Norfolk and the 27th most common during the Restoration Period.  Moving into the 18th century, latinised forms became more popular. Maud gave way to Matilda, Joan to Joanna and Emm to Emma. Many sources credit Matthew Prior's poem Henry and Emma (1709) with reviving the name. This was perhaps a factor in increasing its use, however, Dunkling's rankings for England and Wales shows that Emma ranked at #40 in 1700 and again a century later in 1800, showing a consistency of the name's use both before and after the poem's publication.  The name maintained its popularity right through the 19th century, gradually declining by the end of the century. This article from 1892 mentions the decline in "good old family appellatives" such as Amelia, Charlotte, Caroline, Emma, Harriet, Julia and Matilda which had previously been Georgian and Regency favourites.  Data from the Surname Atlas (click to enlarge) Data from the 1881 census shows that Emma was most common in England, particularly in the South, but had limited use in Scotland.  Rankings for the name Emma in England and Wales were as follows: 1850: #7 (according to Lesie Dunkling's ranks) 1860: #6 1870: #9 1880: #14 1890: #21 1900: #36 1904: #51 1914: #79 **Out of the top 100 for six decades** 1974: #4 1984: #4  1994: #10 After falling out of the top 100 after 1914, Emma made a dramatic comeback in the 1970s, when it ranked #4  in both 1974 and a decade later in 1984. It is very difficult to believe that Emma wasn't #1 at least once between '74 and '84, but unfortunately there is no official data for us to be completely sure. Leslie Dunkling's data for the number of girls registered with the name Emma in every 10,000 births in England and Wales, however, has the name peaking around 1980, and actually lists it with the highest number for all girls that year (suggesting it was, in fact, #1):  1900 1925  1935 1950 1955 1960  1965  1970  1975  1980  1985  1990   67     8     2    2    -    -     20   114   283   362   246   266 This data also shows that the name began to rise in the mid 1960s. Some of this may be thanks to the popularity of the television show The Avengers which featured Diana Rigg in the role of feisty pin-up Emma Peel from 1965-68.  click to enlarge Having been in the top 10 in England and Wales from 1974 to 1994, Emma has been on a steady decline since, falling out of the top 50 in 2013.  In Scotland, Emma was a little later to take off. It was only #76 there in 1900 and had fallen out of the top 100 by 1950. By 1974 (when it was #4 in England), it had risen to #41. It grew from strength-to-strength after that, however, reaching #5 in 1981 and was #1 in 1990-93, 1996-97 and 2003-04. After 2010 it fell back out of the top 10 once more.  In 2014, Emma ranked #57 (1071 births) in England and Wales. In 2015, Emma ranked #16 (224 births) in Scotland and #20 (104 births) in Northern Ireland.  Emma is also popular around the world ranking #1 currently in America, Belgium, Denmark, France and Norway; #2 in Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland; #3 in Ireland; #4 in Austria and Italy; #5 in Finland; #6 in Hungary and Iceland.

Famous Bearers:

Royalty: * Emma of Austrasia (d. 642), daughter of Theudebert II and wife of Eadbald of Kent. * Emma of Normandy (c.985–1052), twice Queen consort of the Kingdom of England by marriage. * Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1858–1934), Queen consort of William III of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. * Emma of Hawaii (1836–1885), queen consort of King Kamehameha IV. History: * Saint Emma of Gurk (c. 980–1045) a noblewoman and founder of religious houses in Austria. * Emma de Guader (1059 -1096), Countess of Norfolk.  * Emma Willard (1787–1870), an American women's rights activist who dedicated her life to education. * Emma Sandys (1843–1877), a 19th-century British painter. * Emma Lazarus (1849–1887), American poet. * Emma Churchill (1862–1957), founder of the Salvation Army in Newfoundland. Contemporary: * Emma Bonino (b. 1948), Italian politician and human rights activist. * Emma Thompson (b. 1959), award-winning British actress and screenwriter * Emma Bunton (b. 1976), British singer and a member of the Spice Girls. * Emma Willis (b. 1976), British television and radio presenter. * Emily "Emma" Stone (b. 1988), American actress. * Emma Watson (b. 1990), British actress. * Emma Roberts (b. 1991), American actress and singer. Literature and Other Media: * Emma Woodhouse, principle character in Jane Austen's novel Emma (1815). * Henry and Emma, a 1709 poem by Matthew Prior. * Emma Peel, fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s television series The Avengers. * Emma Swan, protagonist in the Once Upon a Time television series. * Emma Frost, Marvel comic book character. * Emma Pillsbury, a character in American television series Glee. Other: * HMS Queen Emma, a troopship of the Royal Navy during the Second World War

Variants:

Ema (Spanish, Portuguese, Slavic)

Pronunciation:

EM-ə [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Em, Emmy

Sibling Names:

Charlotte     Lucy     Alice     Isabel     Amelia     Grace  Matthew     Jack     Luke     Harry     Samuel     Daniel

Name Lists:

Medieval Favourites  Terrifically Tudor   Gorgeously Georgian  British Royalty   European Royalty  Jane Austen Names  Dickensian Names  Bronte Names  Names of Roses

  

If you like Emma you may also like:   Matilda, Harriet, Lydia, Emily, Sarah, Eden, Amy, Sophie, Louise, Emilia