| Emi | Nami | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Beautiful blessing | Wave |
| Origin | Japanese | japanese |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | EH-mee | NAH-mee |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1916 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2025 (303) | 2025 (156) |
| In 2025 | 303 | 0 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Emi | Nami |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,314 | 710 |
| 2010s | 1,523 | 296 |
| 2000s | 706 | 104 |
| 1990s | 279 | 42 |
| 1980s | 257 | 20 |
| 1970s | 141 | 0 |
| 1960s | 48 | 0 |
| 1950s | 19 | 0 |
| 1940s | 10 | 0 |
| 1930s | 10 | 0 |
| 1920s | 37 | 0 |
| 1910s | 16 | 0 |
Emi is often written with kanji for “beautiful” and “blessing” or “smile.”
From the Japanese word nami (波) meaning 'wave'. Depending on the kanji used it can also carry other senses, but the 'wave' reading is standard.
Emi is more popular than Nami today: about 303 US babies were given the name Emi in 2025, compared with 0 named Nami.
Emi means Beautiful blessing (Japanese origin), while Nami means Wave (japanese origin).
In US records, Emi first appears in 1916 and Nami in 0, so Nami has the longer recorded history.