EmilyvsEmmyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Emily” and “Emmy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,678
“Emily” frequency rank
#10,684
“Emmy” frequency rank
16362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Emily Emmy
Definition A female given name from Latin. A diminutive of Emily, Emma, Emmeline or Amelia, also used as a female given name.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Emily and Emmy apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Emily
4 ch
Emmy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Emily and Emmy are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Emily is recorded at frequency rank #5,678, classified as aname. Emmy is at rank #10,684, tagged as aname.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 16362, this pair ranks #458,227 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Emily vs Emmy

Shared letters: emy. Private to "Emily": il. Private to "Emmy": -.

"Emily" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "Emmy" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Emilyeimly · emilly · emilyy · emiyl · emliy · emmily · meily
  • Emmyemmyy · emy · emym · memy

Frequency comparison

Emily#5,678
Emmy#10,684

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Emily" and "Emmy" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "Emily" or "Emmy"?
"Emily" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,678 in our English list, against #10,684 for "Emmy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Emily vs Emmy

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Emily” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list