Emil comes from the Roman family name Aemilius, which is usually traced to the Latin aemulus and means "rival" or "eager to excel". It is a classic across Germany, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and American children may know it from Astrid Lindgren's mischievous Emil of Lonneberga. In the United States Emil was common among German and Scandinavian immigrants a century ago; today it ranks number 1,269 in 2025, close to its recent best of number 1,126 in 2022.