Emma (given name)
Encyclopedia
Emma is a given female 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. It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy
Emma of Normandy
Emma , was a daughter of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy, by his second wife Gunnora. She was Queen consort of England twice, by successive marriages: first as second wife to Æthelred the Unready of England ; and then second wife to Cnut the Great of Denmark...

, who was the wife both of king Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

) 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
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

 for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel 'Emma' (1816).

It has been among the top names given to baby girls in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in the past 10 years. It began gaining popularity in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 during the 1960s - at the time Emma Peel
Emma Peel
Emma Peel was a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight.-Casting:...

 was a fictional television spy played by Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....

 in the British adventure series The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...

. By 1974 it was the fourth most popular girl's name in the United Kingdom; a decade earlier it wasn't even in the top 100. 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.

It became popular in the United States later in the 20th century, reaching the top 100 names for girls in the late 1990s and rising to third place on the popularity chart in 2007. It was the most popular name for girls in the United States in 2008, but fell back to second place in 2009.

Notable people named Emma

  • Emma Anzai, bassist of Australian band Sick Puppies
  • Emma Bonino
    Emma Bonino
    Emma Bonino is an Italian politician, former Member of the European Parliament and current Member of the Italian Senate. She is a leading member of the Italian Radicals, a political party that supports economic and social libertarianism, and human rights...

     (born 1948), Italian politician and human rights activist
  • Emma Bull
    Emma Bull
    Emma Bull is a science fiction and fantasy author whose best-known novel is War for the Oaks, one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy. She has participated in Terri Windling's Borderland shared universe, which is the setting of her 1994 novel Finder...

     (born 1954), American science fiction and fantasy author.
  • Emma Bolger
    Emma Bolger
    Emma Bolger is an Irish teen actress. Her most notable role is in the 2002 film In America.-Biography:She was seen in the film In America together with her elder sister, Sarah . Bolger also had the title role in the children's film Heidi . Her parents are Monica and Derek Bolger...

    , Irish actress
  • Emma Bunton
    Emma Bunton
    Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...

     (born 1976), English singer and a member of the Spice Girls
    Spice Girls
    The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...

  • Emma Caulfield
    Emma Caulfield
    Emma Caulfield is an American actress best known for her role as ex-demon Anya Jenkins on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as Susan Keats, a love interest of Brandon Walsh's on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210.-Early life:Emma Caulfield was born Emma Chukker in San...

     (born 1973), American actress
  • Emma Churchill
    Emma Churchill
    Captain Emma Churchill was the founder of The Salvation Army in Newfoundland. She was born in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland but moved to Ontario with her parents in 1882. Churchill was in Toronto when two converts from England introduced General William Booth's ideas there...

     (1862–1957), founder of the Salvation Army
    Salvation Army
    The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

     in Newfoundland
  • Emma Darwin
    Emma Darwin
    Emma Darwin was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, scientist and author of On the Origin of Species...

     (1808–1896), wife of Charles Darwin
    Charles Darwin
    Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

  • Emma Fürstenhoff
    Emma Fürstenhoff
    Emma Fürstenhoff, née Emilia Lindegren , was a Swedish artist , internationally known for her manufacturing and arrangements of artificial flowers of vax, which were a novelty in contemporary Europe....

     (born 1802), Swedish florist
  • Emma George
    Emma George
    -World records:*4.25 m - Melbourne, Australia 30 November 1995*4.28 m - Perth, Australia 17 December 1995*4.30 m - Perth, Australia 28 January 1996*4.41 m - Perth, Australia 28 January 1996*4.42 m - Reims, France 29 June 1996*4.45 m - Sapporo, Japan 14 July 1996...

     (born 1974), Australian pole vaulter
  • Emma Goldman
    Emma Goldman
    Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....

     (1869–1940), Lithuania-born anarchist known for her writings and speeches.
  • Emma Green
    Emma Green
    Emma Anna-Maria Green Tregaro is an athlete competing in high jump. She won a bronze medal in the event at the 2005 IAAF World Championships. She represented Sweden at the 2008 Summer Olympics...

     (born 1984), Swedish athlete.
  • Emma, Lady Hamilton
    Emma, Lady Hamilton
    Emma, Lady Hamilton is best remembered as the mistress of Lord Nelson and as the muse of George Romney. She was born Amy Lyon in Ness near Neston, Cheshire, England, the daughter of a blacksmith, Henry Lyon, who died when she was two months old...

     (born 1761), 18th-century English artist's model and performer
  • Emma Lahana
    Emma Lahana
    Emma Kate Lahana is a New Zealand actress and singer, known for her roles as Kira Ford on Power Rangers: Dino Thunder and Charlotte Monroe on Hellcats.-Career:...

     (born 1984), New Zealand actress and singer.
  • Emma Laine
    Emma Laine
    Emma Johanna Laine is a professional tennis player from Finland.The left-handed Laine turned professional in 2004. Her highest career singles ranking has been World No. 50 on August 7, 2006....

     (born 1986), a tennis player in Finland but she was born in Karlstad
    Karlstad
    Karlstad is a city, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city had 61,685 inhabitants in 2010 out of a municipal total that during the first quarter 2010 was 84,885 inhabitants...

    , Sweden.
  • Emma Lazarus
    Emma Lazarus
    Lazarus began to be more interested in her Jewish ancestry after reading the George Eliot novel, Daniel Deronda, and as she heard of the Russian pogroms in the early 1880s. This led Lazarus to write articles on the subject. She also began translating the works of Jewish poets into English...

     (1849–1887), American poet.
  • Queen Emma of Hawaii
    Queen Emma of Hawaii
    Queen Consort Emma Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonālani Naea Rooke of Hawaii was queen consort of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She ran for ruling monarch against King David Kalākaua but was defeated....

     (1836–1885), queen to King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863
  • Emma of Mělník
    Emma of Melnik
    Emma was the wife of Boleslaus II of Bohemia and a Bohemian Duchess.Her origin is not certain. Gelasius Dobner thought she was the princess of Burgundy and this theory is respected even today. We do not know if she was the first or second wife of Boleslaus...

     (b. before 950, d. 1005/1006) was wife of Boleslav II of Bohemia and bohemian Duchess
  • Emma of Normandy
    Emma of Normandy
    Emma , was a daughter of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy, by his second wife Gunnora. She was Queen consort of England twice, by successive marriages: first as second wife to Æthelred the Unready of England ; and then second wife to Cnut the Great of Denmark...

     (c. 985-1052), twice Queen consort of the Kingdom of England.
  • Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont
    Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont
    Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont was Queen consort of William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg...

     (1858–1934), Queen consort of William III of the Netherlands, who was also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg
  • Emma Rigby
    Emma Rigby
    Emma Catherine Rigby , is an English actress, best known for her role in Hollyoaks as Hannah Ashworth.-Career:In February 2010 Emma Completed, with International Fashion Photographer Rory Lewis.-Television:...

     (born 1989), English actress, known for her role as Hannah Ashworth
    Hannah Ashworth
    Hannah Rose Ashworth is a fictional character from long-running Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by Emma Rigby. Hannah first appeared on-screen from October 3, 2005 until her exit on February 12, 2010....

     in Hollyoaks
    Hollyoaks
    Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...

  • Emma Roberts
    Emma Roberts
    Emma Rose Roberts is an American actress, model and singer. She is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts. Roberts became known for her role as Addie Singer in the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous. She released her debut album, which also served as the show's...

     (born 1991), American actress and singer
  • Emma Rochlin
    Emma Rochlin
    Emma Rochlin is a female field hockey defender from Scotland. She plays club hockey for Glasgow Western, and made her debut for the Women's National Team in 1999. Rochlin works as a trainee solicitor.-References:*...

     (born 1978), Scottish field hockey defender
  • Emma Samms
    Emma Samms
    Emma Samms is a British television actress best known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera General Hospital and for replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington Colby on the primetime soap opera Dynasty.-Early life:Samms was born in Willesden, London, England, the...

     (born 1960), English actress
  • Emma Shah
    Emma Shah
    Ema Shah is a Kuwaiti singer, composer, pianist, guitarist, actress, writer, dancer and director. Her father is Kuwaiti and her mother is Iranian.-Career:...

     (born 1981), Kuwaiti singer
  • Emma Shapplin
    Emma Shapplin
    Emma Shapplin is a French operatic coloratura soprano.-Biography:...

     (born 1974), French soprano
  • Emma Snowsill
    Emma Snowsill
    Emma Laura Snowsill OAM is an Australian professional triathlete and multiple gold medalist in the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games...

     (born 1981), Australian World Class Triathlete
  • Emma Stone (born 1988), American actress
  • Emma Thompson
    Emma Thompson
    Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...

     (born 1959), two-time Academy Award, Emmy Award and BAFTA-winning English actress, comedian, and screenwriter
  • Emma Watson
    Emma Watson
    Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson is an English actress and model.Watson rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. From 2001 to 2011, she starred in all eight Harry Potter...

     (born 1990), an English actress.She is well known for portraying [Hermione Granger],one of the three starring roles in the [Harry Potter] film franchise based on the worldwide bestselling book series.
  • Emma Ferguson
    Emma Ferguson
    Emma Ferguson is a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role in the series Mile High with co-stars Naomi Ryan and Jo Anne Knowles, but Ferguson has also had major roles in the TV movie The Brides in the Bath and in the miniseries North and South.-Biography:Emma Ferguson is...

     , an English actress and fashon icon. Well known for mile high.

Fictional characters

  • Emma Bovary, the heroine of Gustave Flaubert
    Gustave Flaubert
    Gustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...

    's novel Madame Bovary
    Madame Bovary
    Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...

  • Emma Coolidge, Heroes
    Heroes (TV series)
    Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...

    character
  • Emma Frost
    Emma Frost
    Emma Grace Frost is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 , and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne....

    , Marvel Comics
    Marvel Comics
    Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

     character
  • Emma Geller-Green, daughter of Rachel Green and Ross Geller
  • Emma George, main character from the upcoming comic book Odyssey
  • Emma Nelson
    Emma Nelson
    Emma Nelson is a fictional student on the Degrassi: The Next Generation television series, having originated in the series' precursor, Degrassi Junior High. She is portrayed as an adolescent and adult by Miriam McDonald....

    , Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...

    character
  • Emma Peel
    Emma Peel
    Emma Peel was a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight.-Casting:...

    , fictional television spy played by Diana Rigg
    Diana Rigg
    Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....

     in the British 1960s adventure series The Avengers
    The Avengers (TV series)
    The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...

  • Emma Pillsbury
    Emma Pillsbury
    Emma Pillsbury is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Portrayed by actress Jayma Mays, Emma has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Emma was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...

    , Glee
    Glee (TV series)
    Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...

    character
  • Emma Sheen, Gundam pilot from the AEUG group in the Zeta Gundam series
  • Emma Woodhouse, the title character of Jane Austen
    Jane Austen
    Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

    's Emma
    Emma
    Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively 'comedy of manners' among...

  • Emma, a character on the Teletoon
    Teletoon
    Teletoon is a Canadian Category A specialty channel that broadcasts animation programming. Teletoon is owned by Teletoon Canada Inc., a joint venture between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of television and cartoon and has no connection with the television channel...

     Canadian animated sitcom Stoked
    Stoked (TV series)
    Stoked is a Canadian animated TV series produced by Fresh TV Inc. It is produced by Jennifer Pertsch and Tom McGillis and premiered on Teletoon on June 25, 2009. It is currently airing on Teletoon in Canada, and formerly on Cartoon Network in the United States...

    .
  • Emma Gilbert, from H20, Just add Water
  • Emma Becker, main character in The Lying Game series by Sara Shepard

See also

  • Articles whose names start with "Emma"
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