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Emily Family History

Emily Name Meaning

English: habitational name from Emley in Yorkshire Embley in Northumberland or Himley in Staffordshire. The Yorkshire name comes from an Old English male personal name either Ēama or Emma + lēah ‘woodland clearing’. In the Northumberland name the first element is probably Old English elm ‘elm-tree’ while in the Staffordshire name it is Old English hymele ‘hop (plant)’ + lēah. English: perhaps from the Middle English female personal name Emily (Old French Emilie Latin Aimilia from the name of a major Roman patrician family). This origin is uncertain as its use as a personal name in medieval England is attested only in the doubtful 1316 spelling and in Chaucer's fictional Emelye in the Knight's Tale an Anglicized form of Emilia in Boccaccio's Teseide. Possibly also an Americanized form of South German and Swiss German Emele .

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: Emley, Emling, Smiley, Ehly, Milk, Egly, Early, Ealy, Remaly, Ely

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Where is the Emily family from?

You can see how Emily families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Emily family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Emily families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1891 there were 143 Emily families living in London. This was about 46% of all the recorded Emily's in United Kingdom. London had the highest population of Emily families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Emily surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Emily ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, Munition Worker (heavy) and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Emily. 100% of Emily men worked as a Munition Worker (heavy) and 69% of Emily women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. .

View Census Data for Emily | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • Munition Worker (heavy)
    100%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    69%
  • Private Means
    6%
  • Incapacitated
    4%
  • Unpaid Domestic
    4%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Emily family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 17,000 census records available for the last name Emily. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Emily census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

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Passenger Lists

There are 2,000 immigration records available for the last name Emily. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 1,000 military records available for the last name Emily. For the veterans among your Emily ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Emily lifespan?

Between 1957 and 2004, in the United States, Emily life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1996, and highest in 1987. The average life expectancy for Emily in 1957 was 59, and 66 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Emily

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