Comments for the name Emerson

Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher has a daughter named Emerson Rose.

Couldn't this also mean "son of Emer"? I kind of doubt it, but it's just a theory.

The webmaster of www.mugglenet.com is called Emerson, my sister has a crush on him.

I have seen it used for girls but myself I prefer it for a boy.

Cute middle name.

Comes equipped with big, hairy mascufeminine bollocks.

Emerson is great, but ONLY on a male. As a girl name, it is positively ridiculous. Same goes for Madison, Addison, and other son names. They were meant to be used for BOYS.

I prefer Emerson for a girl, as did the 672 parents who chose it for their daughters in 2005. Male Emersons numbered only 382. With the obvious nicknames of Em and Emmy, in addition to its similarities to the mega-popular Emma & Emily, it will continue to soar up the girls' popularity chart.
[noted -ed]

In response to it being used as a middle name one example is the character of "Charles Emerson Winchester III" from M*A*S*H.

I love this name for a girl. When I think of a girl with this name I think of a smart, pretty, possibly shy girl who has great potential. Anyone who names their daughter this - good job! It isn't too bad on boys either.

My name is Emerson, and I have done some other research on the history of the name. Some legends about the wizard Merlin (also spelled Merlyn, Merlynth, etc) have suggested that his original name was Emerys. So a variant of the origin of Emerson could be 'Emerys' son'. Cool, huh? (The author T. A. Barron first lead me to this discovery by his Merlyn character having the name Emerys.)

I like Emerson for either gender. I'm leaning more towards girl, though, simply because I adore the names Emily and Emma. I do like the poet, though.

I honestly don't see anything wrong with girls being named Emerson. Male and female Kellys, Ashleys and Courtneys coexist so if parents want to name their sons or daughters Emerson, then so be it. Sure, it might be annoying for those who want to name their sons Emerson, that it's trendy for a girl now but what about parents who want to use Emily or Aidan but can't due to popularity? It's the way it goes sometimes. I'm actually thankful that 'name revolutions' occur, otherwise we wouldn't have so many wonderful names out there!

Emerson Hart is a member of the band Tonic.

The town where my dad grew up in is called Emerson (It's in Northeastern Nebraska). It's a small prairie village. I'd like to use this as a middle name for my child as homage.

Great job if you chose this for a boy, but for a girl, I AM POSTITIVELY DISGUSTED WITH! It just doesn't work for a girl at all, it's way too harsh for a girl but is nice an smooth for a boy. I slightly understand Madison and Addison being female, but this name? NO WAY!

I don't like this name on either sex. On boys, it gives the impression that the parents are pretentious or stuck up snobs. It also sounds old-fashioned. On girls, it sounds too masculine, and I fail to see why anyone would even think the name sounds edgy and spunky on girls. Devon I can understand, even Riley, but not this. Boyish names don't age very well on females, unfortunately enough, as you can only be ''cool'' for so long.

In response to the comment, "Boyish names don't age very well on females," well, you may or may not be right, but I think that is precisely the hope of many parents who choose these seemingly masculine "-son" names for their daughters.

I suspect they think the unisex given name will sound kind of brisk and businesslike when their daughters are old enough to join the business world. In the meantime, they can call them by the cute and girlish nicknames, "Maddie," Addie," and (now) Emmie (or whatever spelling thereof you prefer).

This is horrible on a girl. It doesn't sound that great on a boy either.

Micheal Emerson, American actor. Maybe most known for playing Benjamin Linus on Lost.

Looks like this will become the next fad name like Madison and Addison. I wonder why traditionally masculine names ending in -son become so popular as girls' names in the US. Future parents - beware.

I think this is a wonderful masculine name that is best used as a middle name, although if your husband's name is Emery it would make a great first name.

When I think of "Emerson", I think of Keith Emerson, the fantastic keyboard player from the famous 70's progressive rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer. (He was the Emerson in the band's name, of course.)

This is actually a kind of cool name for a guy, but on a girl, it sounds totally hideous and trendoid. Do people not understand the meaning of the -son ending?

I love this name both for girls and boys.
The heroine in Airhead by Meg Cabot is called Emerson.

I know it was meant for boys but it sounds too girly for a boy especially with nicknames like Em, Emmy, or Emma. And I hate Ashley, Madison, or Addison on boys. I think the people who came up with these for boys were crazy they are just too girly. Boys need manly names and girls need cute, pretty names.

Well to me it just seems sort of unisex. I mean, as what was originally a last name, wouldn't it be ok for either gender? I don't see anything wrong with it. Yeah, it's a surnamey name like a lot of 'trendy' names, but also it has a literary background which I guess for me kind of cancels out the trendoid-ness!

I love this for a boy. On a girl it looks super trendy and tacky. And I hate all these -son names for girls.

This is a beautiful and strong name. Although it is unisex, I prefer it for a girl. But I would not use nicknames like Em or Emmy. Emerson is gorgeous and can stand all by itself. It does not need to be shortened. I know the meaning is "son of Emery" but I think it sounds more feminine.

Emerson is a horrible name for a girl. I catch not why parents are taking boy's names (Addison, Peyton, Hayden, Riley, Madison) and turning them into girl's names! It means son of Emery!

Emerson Cod is the name of a character on the fabulous TV show "Pushing Daisies."

This is like naming your daughter Harrison or Jefferson! :| on a boy, it's ok.

I love this name for a boy! It reminds me of Pushing Daisies, haha.

I actually don't mind this name, which has philosophical associations, a gentle sound, interesting history, and is popular in Brazil (for males) for some reason.

I do understand why it is more often used for girls though, because it sounds so much like "Emma", and because Em or Emmy is is the natural pet name.

Apparently more people like it for a girl, (including myself) as it is more common for girls. Emmy is a cute nickname, and the -son ending means nothing to anyone. The evidence is there.

Let me start by saying that I like Emerson for a boy AND a girl. Equally, too - I don't like the name enough to assess which gender I would use it on.

I've never thought that these kinds of names should be assigned any certain gender.

Why?

Because they're UNISEX. The whole idea of a unisex name is for it to be used on both genders! :) And why not? Riley, Taylor, Cameron and Reid are examples of gender-neutral names.

Don't think this is directed straight at krisscouture - it isn't. I just generally hate it when people say, "But this name is OBVIOUSLY feminine/masculine" about unisex names - which, I stress, are unisex. Heh-heh, that's actually kind of the point of gender-neutral names.

My proof that it can be unisex:
Emerson has qualities that are feminine and masculine. You could associate the 'Em' with Emily and Emma and call it feminine. You may associate 'son' with Jason, Mason and Grayson and call it masculine. It also means "son of Emery." Look at "Skyler". "Sky" = feminine, "ler" = masculine. It is a successful unisex name.

Unisex names are a bit like yin and yang, wouldn't you agree?

"more people prefer it for a girl"
It would seem that way, yeah. And that's the only thing I agree with regarding the comment.

"the -son ending means nothing to anyone."
So, I did a LOT of maths, and I hate maths but I'll do it if it means people can use the name Emerson on their son or daughter if they want to. I got a rough figure on the amount of baby girls born in 2010, and subtracted the popularities of Emerson, Madison and Addison. Approximately 2,003,177 baby girls were given names that didn't end in -son. So, we can assume the -son ending meant something to their parents. Think about that. 2,003,177 parents. And that's ONLY on the girl's side. I could go into the amounts of boys given -son names: Grayson/Greyson, Anson, Benson, Branson, Hudson, Jamison, Nelson, Edison, Jason, Larson, Tennyson, Jenson, Carlson, Tyson, Ericson, Dawson, Samson, Orson, Dennison, Dyson, Anderson, Emerson, Carson, Jackson, Mason. Look at how popular THOSE names are for boys, especially Jackson and Mason (and if anyone can play the "Alison" card, then I can play the "Mason" card.)
And how many girl names end in son? Madison... Addison... Emerson... Alison... sometimes Grayson, though most parents will spell that Gracen for girls... um... hardly any.

Emerson itself is not a common name, nor is it obscure. Therefore, it is usable on either gender. There were 1000 female Emersons in 2010, and 638 male Emersons. When you consider the amount of babies born in the US last year, that is not a terribly significant difference. And certainly with all the male names ending in son that I just mentioned, Emerson's name is certainly going to feel more masculine than one would think, despite the progression of Madison and Addison.

You should also note that alternate spellings of Emerson were used for girls: Emersyn (281 girls), Emmerson (122), Emersen (54), Emmersyn (42), Emmersen (10), Emercyn (6). Apart from Emmerson, what do you notice? The SON part has been replaced with letters the parents most likely perceived as more feminine. We can yet again assume that the son ending meant something to them, hence why they changed it. Emersyn has cracked the top 1000 for girls, and I do think it looks more feminine, same with Emersen and Emercyn. And as of 2010, Emery for a girl is slightly ahead of Emerson for a girl. Meh. Guess the -son ending meant something to Emerys' parents. I, for one, like the name Emery on a girl slightly better than I like it on a boy, but I'd never discourage people from naming their sons Emery just because I wanted it to look more feminine - that would be selfish of me.

"nickname Emmy"
Yes, I invite parents to nickname Emersons Emmy. It IS cute, and I'm sure it'll come up.
Also, think of how many parents went for Emery, Emily/Emely/Emalee, Emma, Emilia, Emerald, Emelina, and Emmeline instead. And plenty of masculine names can be nicknamed Emmy - Emmanuel, Emmett, Embry, Emmerich, Emilius, Emilio, Emil, Emilian, Emir.

"the evidence is there"
Probably the strongest evidence anyone could provide that this is a masculine name is the masculine sound and the meaning. I could say that was MY evidence, but it isn't. I'm not saying Emerson is a boys name but it's not exclusive to girls either. I hate it when people say, "I want to use this on a boy/girl 'cause it sounds masculine/feminine, so you guys should too." If you wanna use it on a girl, I encourage you to do so, but it's clearly unisex.

For the record, I don't plan to name a boy or girl Emerson. I just like Emerson on both genders, and it can be justified because the name is unisex. The premise of a unisex name is that it's on either gender - thus, you can safely use it on a boy or girl.