emma
n. countablen. a popular name for a girl or woman. It is a very common name in many English-speaking countries.
n. a female given name of Germanic origin, meaning 'whole' or 'universal'.
Emma is my best friend from school.
The teacher called Emma to the front of the room to collect her prize for the essay competition.
While the name Emma has seen various peaks in popularity over the centuries, it remains a classic choice that transcends specific cultural eras.
Brought to England by the Normans; short form of compound given names beginning with a Frankish prototheme Ermin- or Irmin- "entire", from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
As a proper name, it is always capitalised.
Last updated May 2, 2026