Emilia

Shakespeare gave the name to Desdemona's fierce, clear-eyed friend in Othello — the lady's maid who refuses to keep the secret that could save her own life, and is killed for it in the play's final scene. Emilia is also the heroine of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and a major character in The Comedy of Errors and The Winter's Tale; Shakespeare clearly liked the name. Emilia is the Latin feminine of Aemilius, a Roman patrician clan name likely rooted in aemulus, meaning rival or emulous (the same root as emulate), though centuries of use have softened that competitive edge into something closer to elegance.

The Aemilii were one of Rome's leading families during the Republic and produced several consuls and generals (Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who lost the Battle of Cannae to Hannibal in 216 B.C., among them). The name has always been at home in Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, and Romanian nurseries (the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna takes its name from the Roman road, the Via Aemilia, which itself was named for the Aemilius who built it). American parents have caught up in earnest over the past decade — Emilia entered the SSA top 100 in 2015 and the top 50 by 2020, currently at rank forty-three.

Famous Emilias include Emilia Clarke (the Game of Thrones Daenerys), Emilia Fox (the British actress), the Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci's daughter Emilia Pucci, and the Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala's middle name. Three or four syllables — E-MEEL-ya, or E-MIL-ee-a — gentle on every vowel. Pairs beautifully with both Italian-leaning and English middles (Emilia Rose, Emilia Wren, Emilia Mae). Nicknames span Emi, Mia, Lia, Emmy. Literary, European, unexpectedly modern on a small child.