| Emery | Hilda | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Brave, powerful | Battle |
| Origin | Germanic | germanic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | EM-uh-ree | HIL-duh |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1906 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2025 (3,208) | 1921 (2,128) |
| In 2025 | 3,208 | 0 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Emery | Hilda |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 18,408 | 316 |
| 2010s | 20,971 | 448 |
| 2000s | 3,550 | 827 |
| 1990s | 571 | 1,362 |
| 1980s | 172 | 1,907 |
| 1970s | 55 | 2,582 |
| 1960s | 12 | 3,596 |
| 1950s | 14 | 6,303 |
| 1940s | 10 | 7,567 |
| 1930s | 12 | 9,454 |
| 1920s | 46 | 18,191 |
| 1910s | 11 | 15,674 |
| 1900s | 5 | 6,783 |
| 1890s | 0 | 4,732 |
| 1880s | 0 | 1,280 |
From the Germanic Emmerich — amal (work) and ric (power) — “brave, powerful ruler.”
Built on the Germanic element 'hild' meaning 'battle'. It began as a short form of longer names such as Hildegard and Brunhild before becoming an independent name.
Emery is more popular than Hilda today: about 3,208 US babies were given the name Emery in 2025, compared with 0 named Hilda.
Emery means Brave, powerful (Germanic origin), while Hilda means Battle (germanic origin).
In US records, Emery first appears in 1906 and Hilda in 0, so Hilda has the longer recorded history.