Emil
About Emil
Derived from the Latin word aemulus, Emil is a name with international appeal. Concise and sturdy but with the gentle Em sound, Emil is popular across Europe, from Azerbaijan to Finland, from Germany to Norway, and Denmark. Alternative spelling Emile also ranks highly in Belgium and Canada.
In the US however, while Emil was briefly popular in the 19th century, by the early 1980s, it had completely dropped out of the Top 1000. Though its variants Emiliano and Emilio currently sit in the Top 300 - as do the similar sounding Emmett, Emerson, and Emmanuel - Emil still awaits rediscovery
Pronounced EM-il.
As of October 2026, Emil ranked #1269 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #90 in 1881, Nameberry popularity #301.
Editor's take: The name Emil is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "rival".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,403 | 120 | 62.5 |
| 2015 | #1,370 | 127 | 66.3 |
| 2016 | #1,404 | 125 | 65.9 |
| 2017 | #1,266 | 144 | 77.8 |
| 2018 | #1,368 | 129 | 71 |
| 2019 | #1,227 | 155 | 86.4 |
| 2020 | #1,234 | 152 | 88.1 |
| 2021 | #1,256 | 152 | 86.9 |
| 2022 | #1,125 | 188 | 107.7 |
| 2023 | #1,129 | 187 | 109.3 |
| 2024 | #1,248 | 158 | 91.7 |
| 2025 | #1,269 | 155 | 90.7 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Emil.
- Simeon
- Ephraim
- Enoch
- Raoul
- Laurent
- Marcel
- Seamus
- Byron
- Edmond
- Cyril
- Thaddaeus
- Etienne
- Abner
- Griffith
- Ophelion
- Oskar
- Darcy
- Llewellyn
- Crispin
- Tovah
Emil on lists
Famous Emils
- Emil Herman Robert Cedercreutz
Finnish sculptor
- Emil Öhmann
Finnish linguist
- Johan Emil Kauppi
Finnish composer
- Emil Cioran
Romanian philosopher
- Emil Constantinescu
3rd President of Romania
- Emil Dominik Josef Hácha
3rd President of Czechoslovakia
- Emil Fredrick Nervander
Finnish author
- Emil Isac
Romanian poet
- Emil Theodor Kocher
winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Emil Melmoth
Mexican artist
- Aquila Emil
Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
- Emil Adolf von Behring
winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Frans Emil Sillanpää
Finnish winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
- Jyrki Pekka Emil Linnankivi
Finnish musician Jyrki69 of The 69 Eyes
- Emil Peter Forsberg
Swedish professional footballer
- Emil Goll
lead singer in the Danish band Scarlet Pleasure
Emil in pop culture
- Emil i Lönneberga
series of novels by Astrid Lindgren about a young prankster
- "Emil"
nickname of the Kurt Maschler Award for integrated text and illustration
- Emil River
China and Kazakhstan
- Emil Kolar
character on TV's "The Sopranos"
- Emil Blonsky aka Abomination
character in Marvel Comics
- Emil Antonowsky
a villain in film "RoboCop"
- Emil Bleehall
main character at Walt Disney World's Adventurers Club
- Emil Castagnier
main character of the video game Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World"
- Emil Hamilton
character in DC Universe
- Emil Eagle
character in Donald Duck comics
- Dr. Emil Lang
character in animated series "Robotech"
- Emil Skoda
M.D., character on TV's "Law & Orde"r and "Law & Order: SVU"
- Emil Tischbein
title character in "Emil and the Detectives" and its sequel by Erich Kästner
- Emil Narud
a scientist in video game "Starcraft II"
- Emil Steilsson
character representing Iceland in anime "Hetalia: Axis Powers"
- Emil Sinclair
the main character in "Demian" by Hermann Hesse
- Dr. Emil Breton
a character in film "Sisters"
- Emil
character in video game "Nier"
- Dr. Emil Schaffhausen III
main character in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
- Emil
character in World War II based book Emil and Karl