Emma (given name)

Emma
Emma, Lady Hamilton is a famous Emma
Gender Female
Name day April 19
Origin
Word/name Ancient Germanic, Ancient Scandinavian, Old Norse, Italian, and Modern Scandinavian
Meaning whole, universal
Other names
Related names Emily, Emmy, Em, Irma, Emilie

Emma is a feminine given name. It is derived from the Germanic word ermen meaning whole or universal, and was originally a short form of Germanic names that began with ermen. Emma is also used as a diminutive of Emmeline, Amelia or any other name beginning with "em". It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of King Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of King Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian saint, who is sometimes called Hemma.

After the Norman conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's poem Henry and Emma (1709). It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel Emma (1815).

It has been among the top names given to baby girls in the United States, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Ireland, France, Sweden, Belgium, Russia, Canada, Australia, Norway, New Zealand, Hungary, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain in the past 10 years. It began gaining popularity in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. By 1974 it was the fourth most popular name for girls in England and Wales. It was still in the top 10 as late as 1995, but had fallen out of the top 20 by 2005 and in 2009 it ranked at 41st.[1]

It became popular in the United States later in the 20th century, reaching the top 100 names for girls in the late 1990s. It has been among the top 5 names given to girls since 2002, and was the most popular name for girls in 2008, 2014, and 2015.[2]

Notable people

Fictional characters

See also

  • Articles whose names start with "Emma"

References

  1. ↑ "Emma – Meaning And Origin Of The Name Emma". BabyNames.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Popular Baby Names". ssa.gov. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "Emma – Super-wiki".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.