Emmitt is a spelling variant of Emmett, an English surname that developed from the medieval girl's name Emma and thus goes back to the Germanic ermen, "whole" or "universal". The spelling with an i is tied to the Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time rushing leader. Emmitt entered the US top 1000 in 2010, peaked at number 501 in 2019 and ranks number 770 in 2025.