Emerson

Emerson is a surname that is sometimes used as a given name. The surname means "son of Emery." Emerson was a reasonbly common given name for boys in the late 18th century and in the first few decades of the 19th century, sometimes givin in honor of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Instances of the name began to taper off during the 1940's, and it disappared entirely from the top 1000 after the 1960's. In the 1990's Emerson began to appear again as a name for baby boys, but was still quite rare. In 2002, Emerson appeared on the top 1000 list for names for new baby girls in the U.S. Although Emerson has been gaining some popularity for boys in the past few years, it hasn't gained much popularity for girls thus far, but that could easily change. Emma and Emily have recently been extremely popular, and Emerson has the identical first syllable, and the ability to use Emma or Emmy as a nickname. And, now the name has appeared as a name for a little girl on a popular television show, Desperate Housewives. This is a name that definitely bears watching over the next year or two.