| Aiko | Emi | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Child of love | Beautiful blessing |
| Origin | japanese | Japanese |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | AH-ee-koh | EH-mee |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 1916 |
| Peak year | 2023 (77) | 2025 (303) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 303 |
| Trend | Rising | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Aiko | Emi |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 384 | 1,314 |
| 2010s | 301 | 1,523 |
| 2000s | 311 | 706 |
| 1990s | 124 | 279 |
| 1980s | 60 | 257 |
| 1970s | 45 | 141 |
| 1960s | 0 | 48 |
| 1950s | 5 | 19 |
| 1940s | 7 | 10 |
| 1930s | 108 | 10 |
| 1920s | 306 | 37 |
| 1910s | 134 | 16 |
A Japanese name most commonly written 愛子, from ai 'love, affection' and ko 'child' — 'child of love, beloved child'. Meaning depends on the kanji chosen, but the 愛 (love) spelling is the standard one.
Emi is often written with kanji for “beautiful” and “blessing” or “smile.”
Emi is more popular than Aiko today: about 303 US babies were given the name Emi in 2025, compared with 0 named Aiko.
Aiko means Child of love (japanese origin), while Emi means Beautiful blessing (Japanese origin).
In US records, Aiko first appears in 0 and Emi in 1916, so Aiko has the longer recorded history.