Recorded 1904–2025 · United States
Emerald was most popular in 2024, when 423 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,325 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,375, with 399 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 10,056 people named Emerald.
Emerald first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1904, which makes it about 121 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 103 of the 122 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 10,056 American births named Emerald between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 9,499 are estimated to be alive today.
399 American babies were named Emerald in 2025, ranking #1,375 that year.
Emerald is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 385 births a year, against 181 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +113% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Emerald is mostly a girl’s name — 94.7% of the 10,056 Americans given it were girls and 5.3% were boys. It changed hands: since 1978 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 94% girls and 6% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 9,499 Americans named Emerald are alive today — 94% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 20 years old, and half are between 7 and 31.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Emerald on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org