50+ Cute, Creative, & Cool Nicknames For Emily That Go Beyond Just ‘Em’

Expectant parents will find themselves asking a lot of questions before their little one’s birth, but one of the more fun topics of conversation will be what to name your baby once they have made their official debut. And while some parents may choose to look to pop culture for inspiration, others may prefer the more traditional route. Of course, there are a wide variety of great choices out there to select from, though one option that has proven to be highly popular for little girls over the last several decades is the name Emily. It would be considered quite rare (if not impossible) to find someone who doesn’t know at least one person — or even multiple people — named Emily. But as popular as the name may be, there’s a lot you may not know about it.

Meaning & Origin

The name Emily comes from the Latin family name Aemilia and is commonly linked to the Latin word “aemulus,” which means rival or industrious and hardworking. It is also the feminine version of the name Emil. As far as its popularity goes, Emily has served as a tried and true name among many families throughout the last several decades.

According to the Social Security Administration, Emily ranked as the No. 1 name for baby girls in America from 1996 through 2007. In fact, 2007 proved to be the name’s most popular year to date. The number of births with the name Emily hit a record of 19,358, which factors out to be 0.915 percent of total female births that happened that year. And while the name has seen a slight drop in the rankings since then, it remained in the Top 12 until 2020, when it jumped to No. 18 in the chart.

Variations of the Name Emily

Emily has also been used in various languages throughout the years, which means it has many variations to consider, ranging from Danish and Polish to Hungarian and Swedish, and so many more options in between. Provided below are a few examples of these variations to the name and their regions of origin.

1. Aemilia: to rival, excel (Latin)
2. Aemiliana: imitating or rivaling (Latin)
3. Aemilianus: from the Roman clan name Aemilius (Latin)
4. Aemilius: of the Aemilius family, rival or eager (Latin)
5. Aimil: laborious (Scottish Gaelic)
6. Aimilios: strength (Greek)
7. Ái My: lovable (Vietnamese)
8. Amilia: amiable (English)
9. Eemeli: challenger (Finnish)
10. Eemi: blessed, favor, beautiful (Finnish)
11. Eemil: “they are one who are like the elves” (Finnish)
12. Eimíle: wily or persuasive (Irish)
13. Em: industrious, striving, work (English)
14. Emalee: rival, laborious, eager (English)
15. Emelie: industrious (Swedish)
16. Emely: to strive, excel, rival (English)
17. Emiel: rival (Dutch)
18. Emil: to strive (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Swedish)
19. Émile: industrious (French)
20. Emilee: laborious (English)
21. Emili: rival, laborious, eager (Catalan, Hebrew, Hungarian)
22. Emília: (Hungarian, Portuguese, Slovak)
23. Emilía: (Icelandic)
24. Emilia: (Bulgarian, Danish, English, Finnish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish)
25. Emilian: excellent (Polish, Romanian)
26. Emiliana: rival or to strive to excel (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
27. Emiliano: eager or rival (Italian, Spanish)
28. Émilie: rival (French)
29. Emílie: (Czech)
30. Emilie: (Danish, German, Norwegian, Swedish)
31. Émilien: freindly (French)
32. Émilienne: rivaling or imitating (French)
33. Emīlija: rival or emulating (Latvian)
34. Emilija: (Croatian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovene)
35. Emílio: rival, eager, or emulating (Portuguese)
36. Emilio: (Italian, Spanish)
37. Emilios: rival or eager (Greek)
38. Emilis: enthusiastic (Lithuanian)
39. Emiliya: to strive, excel or rival (Bulgarian)
40. Emīlija: (Latvian)
41. Emily: rival, wily, or persuasive (English)
42. Emlyn: rival, trying to equate or excel, or emulating (Welsh)
43. Emmi: whole or universal (Finnish)
44. Emmie: industrious (English)
45. Emmy: universal (English, French)
46. Emy: of the Aemilius family, rival, eager, whole, big, universal, or entire (French)
47. Milja (Finnish)
48. Mille (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish)
49. Millie (English)
50. Milly (English, Norwegian, Swedish)
51. Yemelyan (Russian)

Nicknames for Emily

Though Emily would serve as your child’s official, legal name, it’s common for kids (and even adults) to go by a nickname. Sometimes they are tied to some sort of joke or funny story, but other times they stem from the name itself. Here are a few options you’d have to work with if you were to choose the name Emily.

1. E
2. Em
3. Ems
4. Millie
5. Gimme
6. Mils
7. Emmy
8. Emmie
9. Emy
10. Esme
11. El
12. Emi-Bean
13. Milly
14. Mil
15. Mia
16. Emma
17. Emeline
18. Emz
19. Emi
20. Miamor
21. Mel
22. Miley
23. Melia
24. Lee
25. Ily
26. Eminem
27. Emi Love
28. Mills
29. Memeily
30. Lily
31. Emem
32. Emilia
33. Emzy
34. Michi
35. Meli
36. Emu
37. Emi-Cakes
38. Emster
39. Emo
40. Lulu
41. Emilita
42. Emmi-Bear
43. Emmynemmy
44. M&M
45. Similey
46. Smiley
47. Emlo
48. Lee Lee
49. Wemmy
50. Emi Lou

Emilies You Should Know

Emily may be a familiar name, but this moniker belongs to many fantastic individuals who will make you feel even more confident about giving your little girl this name.

• Emily Bronte: Bronte is an English Novelist known for her novel Wuthering Heights, a literary classic.
• Emily Blunt: Blunt is an award-winning British actress who has received a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and three British Academy Film Awards. In 2020, Forbes listed her as one of the highest-paid actresses.