Emmett

How to say it

/ˈɛm.ɪt/

What it means

From the Germanic Emmerich (ermen 'whole, universal' + ric 'powerful') via a medieval English diminutive. Same root family as Emery. Doc Brown of Back to the Future and Robert Emmet the Irish revolutionary cover two cultural anchors.

Emmett comes from the Germanic Emmerich (ermen 'whole, universal' + ric 'powerful ruler') via medieval English diminutive forms. The same root that gave us Emery and Emerson. Robert Emmet (the Irish revolutionary executed in 1803 for leading an uprising against British rule) anchored the name in Irish-American naming for generations. Emmett Brown ('Doc Brown' from Back to the Future, played by Christopher Lloyd, 1985-1990) gave the name decisive Gen-X pop-culture anchor. The Twilight series's Emmett Cullen added a 2000s vampire reference. The name has been climbing the US charts since the 2000s and entered the top 100 in 2017. Single short forms aren't common; Em is shared with the broader Em- family.

Heads-up notes

• Pop culture

  Doc Emmett Brown (Back to the Future) is the dominant Gen-X anchor; Twilight's Emmett Cullen is the millennial one; Emmett Till the 14-year-old murdered in 1955 is the civil-rights weight some families carry.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

• Doc Emmett Brown Christopher Lloyd's character in Back to the Future
• Robert Emmet Irish revolutionary executed for the 1803 Dublin rising, 1778-1803

Spelling variants

• Emmet
• Emmit

Names with the same feeling

• Everett Brave boar
• Wesley Western meadow
• Wyatt Brave in war
• Felix Lucky, fortunate
• Henry Home ruler

See Emmett from another angle