Emerald

Where Emerald comes from

From emerald. The Queensland town takes its name from the emerald and other precious stone deposits in the area and from the pastoral run Emerald Downs, a name chosen circa 1860 by pastoralist Peter Fitzallan MacDonald. It is unclear if emeralds were found in or around Emerald. The given name is a modern coinage from the name of the gemstone, representing a vernacular form of Esmeralda.
— Wiktionary's entry for Emerald
  • English
Along the way
  1. 1904
    First appearance
    #1,877 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1961
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1985
    Emerald Fennell born
    English actress, filmmaker and writer
  4. 2024
    Peak, #708
    397 babies named Emerald — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from English.
Namesakes
  • Emerald Fennell · English actress, filmmaker and writer, born 1985

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.