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I wouldn't accept that Emmalee = My Hope just because they sound somewhat similar. It would be like arguing that Naomi (Hebrew) is identical with Naomi (Japanese). It's a coincidence, nothing more. And the possibility of a little Emmalee having an Arab parent is neither here nor there.

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I'm not hung up on name meanings. I'd happily use (or see used) Cecily and Claudia, for instance, and the probable etymology of Katharine is quite hilarious compared to what people mostly think of as the meaning. In Afrikaans, an often-used nn for Deborah is Borrie, which is the Afrikaans word for turmeric. Mildly amusing, but meaningless.

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No. Accuracy matters. And name magic can work, but not in that way: a fake meaning - 'Claudia' means 'Paws like a cat' - has no status or dignity. A name widely believed to be ugly, dated or generally undesirable can become beautiful on the right bearer, though: perhaps that's an example of bearer magic!