♀ Name Emily – Rival & Eager

Origin:	Latin
Meaning:	rival, eager, of the Aemilius family
Girl namesGirl names with ENamesNames with E

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Emily is a name of Latin origin and means “rival” or “eager.”

Where does the name Emily come from?

Emily is an English feminine form of the name Emil, which is derived from the Latin surname Aemilius, one of the most influential Patrician families in the Roman Empire.

What does the name Emily mean?

Emily means “of the Aemilius family” and “rival” or “eager.”

Word composition

• Latin “aemulus” = rivaling
• Latin “Aemilia” = the family of the Aemilians

Similar Names and Nicknames

There are different ways of spelling Emily and similar variants of the name such as Emeli, Emely, Emilee, Emilie, Emmelie and Emmely. There are also other rarer versions like Aemilia, Aemiliana, Aemilie and Emiliea.
Popular nicknames are Amy, Elli, Emi, Emy, Em, Ems, Lilli, Lilly, Melly, Milli and Milly.

Names that fit well with Emily

Parents like to pair the name Emily with a middle name. Popular middle names are Luna, Margaret, Maribel, Megan or Meghan and Priscilla.

Emily in movies and television shows

• Emily is a rather popular name among fictitious TV and movie characters. In 2015, the Irish independent drama “My Name Is Emily” premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh. The role of the 16-year-old Emily is played by the then 23-year-old actress Evanna Lynch best known for role as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter series.
• The popular Netflix show “Emily in Paris” portrays the life of Emily Cooper, played by Lilly Collins, who unexpectedly ends up working in Paris with her new boss Sylvie, played by Italian actress Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu. Here, she makes friends with the chef Gabriel played by Lucas Bravo and the nanny Mindy Chen played by Ashley Park.
• Also well-known TV characters are Emily Fields from the “Pretty Little Liars” TV show, Emily Prentiss from the crime series “Criminal Minds”, Emily Gilmore from the hit show “Gilmore Girls”, as well as Emily Junk from the movie “Pitch Perfect 2”.

Pronunciation of Emily

Notable people with the name

• Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848), a British novelist, who wrote the novel "Wuthering Hights" (1847) under her pen name Ellis Bell

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), an American poet whose poem "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" (1891) is considered one of the most important English poems. Her coming of age is currently being portrayed in the TV show "Dickinson", in which the actress and musician Hailee Steinfeld plays the role of Emily Dickinson.

• Emily Miller (born 1994) rose to fame through the British reality TV format "Too Hot To Handle". She is a fan favorite of the second installment of the show.
• Emily Blunt (born 1983) a British actress, who is well known for her roles in "The Devils wears Prada", "A Quiet Place", "Marry Poppins Returns" and "Jungle Cruise".
• Emily Ratajkowski (born 1991) has taken a break from acting since the birth of her son Sylvester Apollo Bear, and focused on writing her biography, as well as supporting women's rights world wide.
• Emily Deschanel (born 1976), an American actress, is almost exclusively known as her TV character Dr. Temperance Brennan alias "Bones" from the TV show of the same name. Her sister Zooey Deschanel is an actress as well and most known for her role in the sitcom "New Girl".
• Emily Osment (born 1992) rose to fame as the TV character Lilly Truscott from the TV show "Hannah Montana". Since then, she acted in a lot of movie and television productions and released some studio albums.
• Emily VanCamp (born 1986) is a Canadian actress mostly known for her role of Emily Thorne in the TV show "Revenge", as well as her character Sharon Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Variants of the name Emily

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Author: Juliane Schmetzer

Last updated: 3/7/2025