With Emily and Emma entrenched in the US Top 10, little wonder parents are starting to seek out alternatives.
Thanks to Alicia for suggesting one likely candidate. Our Name of the Day is Emmeline.
First things first – Emmeline is not related to Emily. Neither are related to Emma. Emma developed as a diminutive for unwieldy Germanic monikers like Ermintrude, from ermen – universal. Emily derives from the Latin Aemilius.
That last reference might encourage you to link Emily and Amelia. Not so, even though King George II of England’s daughter, Princess Amelia, was called Emily in English.
Instead Amelia shares roots with – wait for it – Emmeline. Both derive from the Germanic element amal – work. The archaic form Amelina illustrates the link.
Emmeline has been worn by a number of figures, including:
- Charlotte Turner Smith chose the name for the heroine of 1788 novel Emmeline, The Orphan of the Castle. Despite defying tradition, the heroine ends well;
- Emmeline Lott penned The English Governess in Egypt: Harem Life in Egypt and Constantinople, a true account of her service in the household of a nineteenth century Egyptian viceroy;
- British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was an early leader and played a key role in winning Englishwomen the right to vote;
- Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence was part of the same movement;
- Emmeline Wells was equally active in the suffragette movement in the US, even running for the Utah state senate;
- JK Rowling used the name for a minor character in the Harry Potter series – Emmeline Vance, a member of the Order of the Phoenix;
- A 20th century novel about a nineteenth-century girl called Emmeline has inspired a modern opera. But, as befits the medium, this Emmeline dies tragically.
Factor in variant spellings Emeline, Emaline and Emmaline and you’ll also find an island near Antarctica, a Tongan diplomat, a Japanese manga character, a song by Ben Folds, an actress from television’s I Dream of Jeannie and the nanny who drops to her death in Disney World’s Hollywood Tower of Terror attraction.
I could go on. The name was fairly common right up through the early 20th century, though all of the spellings were in moderate use – meaning the names failed to make an impact in the statistics, though several variants charted a few times.
Today, Emmeline sits at the crossroads of two trends:
- First, she’s a spin on Emily and Emma. Other Em- names in the US Top 1000 include Emerson (#290), Emilia (#401), Emery (#468), Emmy (#957) as well as variant spellings Emely, Emilee, Emilie and Emmalee;
- Plus there’s the rise of the -ines. From evergreen choices like Madeline and Katherine to more novel picks like Adeline (#361) and Evangeline (#450), the ending is gaining interest. And let’s not forget the -lyns: Kaitlyn, Madelyn, Brooklyn, Ashlyn, Adalyn and a host of nouveau coinages, from Gracelyn to Jazlyn. Can Emmalyn be far behind?
The result? Emmeline is different without being truly distinctive. While her antique vibe will appeal to many, Em- names are simply too popular for your daughter’s unusual appellation to stand out.
On the other hand, if all you want is something a little different, Emmeline might be the perfect compromise. She sounds like her more popular cousins, but still has a history and rhythm of her own.
Emmeline’s lovely, though I prefer Emeline.
I have always liked Emmeline. My interest was especially piqued after hearing the catchy tune by Ben Folds, it made me appreciate the Emaline spelling more. I love the (EM-meh-LINE) pronunciation.
I like this name very much, and this is also the pronunciation I prefer. However, I’ve never heard the Ben Folds song, and I like the spelling “Emmeline” best.
I actually like this name, a lot — I’ve considered putting it in a combo as a middle name to honor myself, as well as Amelia. (In my Latin class, they made us take Latin names, and I chose Aemilia Maria.) Even though Amelia and Emmeline aren’t directly related to Emily, it’s enough to get the point across that it’s honoring me.
It’s a little too frilly for me. I would be more likely to use Emma, which I find short and sweet, and – of course – overwhelmingly popular.
Also, do people really name their children after themselves and call it “honoring myself”? That seems a little…vain? I might honor someone else (we did my FIL with Ethan’s MN), and hope that someone might someday honor me (Ethan’s children), but honor myself? Seems a little off, somehow.
While I’m not big on honoring in general, the feminist in me says, ‘men name their kids after themselves regularly – think of all the Jrs out there – so what’s wrong with a woman doing it?’ It’s not part of my personal naming style and I’d feel a bit odd doing it myself, but why should it be a perpetuated double-standard in this day and age?
Well, in all likelyhood, if I were to honor my first name in any way, that would probably only be in I were on my eighth daughter. I like the idea of using Maria (my middle) as a middle name because it honors not only me, but my mother’s deceased little sister. But the chance of me actually using a name fully-blown after me? Probably won’t happen.
In case what I said in my first comment was confusing, Amelia/Emmeline to honor myself wouldn’t be a first name, only a middle name.
I bear my mother’s first name as my MN, as she does her mother’s. It’s a nice tradition if it feels right, I guess. I had no interest in doing the same. For me it felt a bit self-important and just unnecessary to continue.
Allison got what I was trying to say. Also, the term “honoring myself” seems a bit over the top.
Emmeline is a very pretty name and I agree that it is “a little different.” I think that’s probably why, despite how lovely it is, that I’m not greatly drawn to it. There’s still the likelihood that she’d be Emma plus last initial in her classroom. But it is nice to have a full-name option if she wants it. It’s a great way to both ‘fit in’ and ‘stand out’ just a bit.
I quite enjoy Emmeline, but it’s too similar to my sister’s name, so I don’t think I’d use it, not even as a middle because then there’d questions to answer about why we only chose to name her after my sister and not my brother, sister-in-law, blah blah blah.
Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale features twins named Emmeline and Adeline. Since the novel’s in the Gothic tradition, the names are both quite appropriate IMHO (Charlotte Smith’s Emmeline from the novel of the same name and Ann Radcliffe’s Adeline from The Romance of the Forest).
I just met a little Emmalyn this past week. I thought it was pretty, but it seems like it could be confused for many other names as she gets older.
I don’t like Emmalyn as much, it feels very tryndee.
I am an Em(meh)lene
I’m a variation of Emmeline – Emmaline (obviously) and I’ve been taking some time to adjust to it. I used to not like it, because I thought it was annoying (when I was little) so I went by Emm and Emma for a long time. When I entered high school, I realized how common and almost boring Emma was, so I started going back to the full version.
The pronounciation of this type of name is very troubling to different people. because of it’s different variations and countries it originated in/is popular in, it has quite a few.
I was born as Emma-LINE, but most often I’ve been faced with Emma-LEEN, Emma-LYNN, and several others. Currently I’m becoming an Emma-LINE again, but I’m thinking about shifting the pronounciation to Emma-LEEN, because that is what I think represents my character best, a little more artsy, different (well, in the US; usually we us the LINE pronounciation – CaroLINE, MadeLINE (my sisters name), etc. – and EmmaLEEN stands out more).
My daughter’s name is Emmeline, and I noticed that you posted this on my birthday – how awesome!
I prefer the MM spelling myself; I found more references to that spelling, with Emeline being a variation.
Thanks for making this the word of the day!
What about Evangeline? And could it get a NotD???
Thanks
The poetic Evangeline was featured back in 2008! You can read the post here.
Thanks!
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Hi, this is really interesting, I have enjoyed reading everyones posts. I’m an Emmaline (Em Mah Leen), often teachers would call me Em Mah Line – which I wasn’t happy with, mainly because that wasn’t my name, I am known to some people as Emma and to my close family as Emmaline and to my husband I am Em. When I was young I didn’t like my name but at 35 years old I love my name because it is so unique.
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