Emmy

Emmy has lived for a century as a warm nickname for Emma, Emily, and Emmeline, borrowing the Germanic ermen root meaning whole or universal. It now increasingly stands alone on birth certificates, part of the general shift toward diminutives as full names. There's the trophy too, the television award named in the 1940s after the image orthicon tube, which gives the name a small surprise shimmer. At rank 453, Emmy sits comfortably on the charts, light and affectionate without feeling too juvenile. Two short syllables, a bright little double m, a lifted final e. A cardigan of a name, soft, sunny, and instantly loved.