I’m quite biased in [name_f]Emma[/name_f]’s favor because of an adorable Argentinian [name_f]Emma[/name_f] I know. 
. I love her, lol.
Emma is a bit too popular for my taste—I personally prefer [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f], and even then prefer [name_f]Emmy[/name_f] to [name_f]Emma[/name_f], but I can definitely see the appeal! I think [name_f]Emma[/name_f] feels more timeless because [name_f]Gemma[/name_f] is newer to Americans, but I definitely think [name_f]Gemma[/name_f] is definitely respectable and has history. I think it’s level of appeal is different because it’s more exotic as opposed to vintage? If that makes sense.
Ruby and [name_f]Annika[/name_f] are definitely more rare (and I think [name_f]Emma[/name_f] and [name_u]Ruby[/name_u] have similar types of appeal?), but it sounds like [name_f]Emma[/name_f] is what truly appeals.
I’m not sure I’d put too much stock in [name_f]Emma[/name_f] dropping to #2–I feel like I’ve been watching [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], [name_f]Sophia[/name_f], and [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] swap #1 for the past decade or so. They all seem to stay within (or close) to the top 5 and all have pretty comparable popularity. [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] does seem to have trended down from 1 to about 4-5 in the past decade, but it’s so close to the top I think it could easily climb back up. I think it could easily be another decade or two before we see [name_f]Emma[/name_f] drop significantly, due to the love for [name_f]Em[/name_f] names in general ([name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] is trending up, [name_f]Emily[/name_f], [name_u]Emery[/name_u], [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], etc., are all well loved choices still today, and I couldn’t say about [name_f]Emmanuelle[/name_f], but [name_m]Emmanuel[/name_m] and [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] and [name_u]Emery[/name_u] and [name_u]Emerson[/name_u] are still used for boys, too).
That being said, popular names now aren’t what they were in our day. There were 17,102 [name_f]Emma[/name_f]’s born last year. If you divide that by 50, just to get an average per state, you’re down to basically 342 per state born last year. There’s an average of 59 counties per state (now this will vary—some states have as few as 3, or as many as 250+, but average number of counties is 59), so if you divide 342 by 59, you’re down to approximately 6 [name_f]Emma[/name_f]’s born per county each year. From the number of times I’ve done these calculations, I’ve noted that it seems like there’s about 20 public school districts per county. Not a solid number but close enough for a quick calculation. So that’s only about one [name_f]Emma[/name_f] in 3 maybe 4 school districts each year. Which means there likely could be only one [name_f]Emma[/name_f] in your child’s elementary school, not to mention that this number would be spread out even further by charter schools, private schools (both secular and religious, including Catholic and Protestant schools), military schools, homeschool, etc. Could your kiddo be one of 3 [name_f]Emma[/name_f]’s in her class? Sure, it’s possible. It is the number 2 name, after all. But is it likely? Not nearly so likely as it would’ve been when we were in elementary school.
It sounds like [name_f]Emma[/name_f] is really your name, and what matters at the end of the day is that she’s your [name_f]Emma[/name_f], not anyone else’s. Other little ones may share her first name but they won’t share her heart, her passions, and what she means to you. [name_m]Even[/name_m] a name can’t take that away from you. I think sometimes we put too much pressure on finding a rare name to make our children stand out. That’s not a bad thing—sometimes rarer names are more refreshing than meeting another [name_u]Liam[/name_u] or [name_u]Aidan[/name_u] or [name_u]Jackson[/name_u] or [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] or [name_f]Ava[/name_f] or what have you. But it also means some of us feel pressured to give up the names closest to our hearts because our little ones might share their name with a couple thousand other kids. I’ve felt the pressure with my own favorite, [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] (not in the top 5 like [name_f]Emma[/name_f], but it’s close enough to [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] that it gets lumped in by many!), and I can’t even tell you how many times this site has tried to get me to shove [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] into the mn spot or exchange it for the more exciting [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] or [name_f]Isadora[/name_f] or even [name_f]Isobel[/name_f]. But if [name_f]Emma[/name_f] is your name for your little person, embrace [name_f]Emma[/name_f].
She’s beautiful and popular and loved for a reason. 
