Emilia
Meaning of Emilia
Emilia, a polished offshoot of the ancient Roman family name Aemilius, springs from the Latin aemulus—“rival, striving”—and has threaded itself through European culture for two millennia. In English it sounds like “eh-MEEL-yuh,” while Italian and Spanish tongues stretch the ending to “eh-MEE-lee-ah,” giving the name a built-in passport. Shakespeare assigned it to the truth-telling wife of Iago in Othello, and modern pop culture keeps it visible through figures such as actress Emilia Clarke, yet the name’s most enduring association may be Italy’s fertile Emilia-Romagna, land of Parmigiano and fast cars. In the United States, Emilia lingered below the Top 600 for much of the last century, then raced into the Top 50—landing at No. 43 in 2024—mirroring a shift toward lyrical, pan-European choices that echo Emma and Amelia without repeating them. Elegant but unpretentious, cross-cultural yet unmistakably Latin in spirit, Emilia offers parents a name that both honors history and feels unmistakably current.
Pronunciation
Italian
- Pronunced as eh-MEE-lee-ah (/e'mi:lia/)
Spanish
- Pronunced as eh-MEE-lee-ah (/e'milja/)
American English
- Pronunced as eh-MEEL-yuh (/əˈmiljə/)
British English
- Pronunced as eh-MEEL-yuh (/ɪˈmiːlɪə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Emilia
| Emilia Clarke is an English actress best known as Daenerys in Game of Thrones, with four Emmy nominations and film roles in Terminator Genisys, Solo A Star Wars Story, Me Before You, and Last Christmas. |
| Emilia Lanier was the first woman in England to present herself as a professional poet with Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum and has been linked by some to the Dark Lady in the Shakespeare sonnets. |
| Emilia Plater - Countess Emilia Broel-Plater, a Polish-Lithuanian noblewoman, led a small force in the 1830 to 1831 November Uprising against Russia, became a captain, and died after falling ill while trying to continue the fight. |
| Emilia Jones is a British actress best known for her BAFTA nominated lead in CODA and for starring in the Netflix series Locke and Key. |
| Emilia Fox is an English actress and presenter known for British TV, debuting in The Pianist in 2002, winning a Flaiano Film Award for The Soul Keeper, and appearing in Keeping Mum and Dorian Gray. |
| Emilia Telese is an Italian multidisciplinary artist and lecturer based between Brighton, Foggia and Reykjavik, known for performance and interactive art, a Third Paradise Ambassador with work shown at the Louvre. |
| Emilia Elisabeth Brodin is a Swedish midfielder who played for Pitea IF, Tyreso FF, Balinge IF, and AIK, and made her Sweden national team debut in February 2014. |
| Emilia Errera was an Italian teacher and writer known for historical and literary essays, especially on Charles Dickens. |
| Emilia McCarthy is a Canadian actress, dancer, and writer known for Abby Ackerman on Max and Shred, Alyssa Sworn in Hemlock Grove, Taylor Dean in Zapped, and Lacey in the Zombies films. |
| Emilia Bicchieri was an Italian Dominican nun who founded a convent in Vercelli and served as its prioress. |
| Emilia Dilke - Emilia, Lady Dilke was a British author and art historian who became a leading feminist, suffragist, and trade unionist. |
| Emilia Franziska Müller is a German CSU politician and trained chemical technician who has held municipal, state, and European posts since 1990, serving in the Landtag and, since 2013, as Bavaria's minister for labor, social affairs, family, and integration in Horst Seehofer's second cabinet. |
| Emilia Guiú - Emilia Guiu Estivella was a Spanish actress known for over 60 roles in Mexican Golden Age films of the 1940s and 1950s, often as a villain or femme fatale, and she also worked on stage. |
| Emilia Dragieva is a Bulgarian former high jumper who cleared 2.00 m to win bronze at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships. |
| Emilia Wickstead is a New Zealand born London based fashion designer who won the 2014 Elle Style Awards Red Carpet Designer of the Year and counts Samantha Cameron and the Princess of Wales among her clients. |
