Short form of Emily or Emma, meaning 'industrious' or 'whole, universal.'
Emy is a variant spelling of Emmy or Emi, all of which descend from the Roman family name Aemilia, connected to the Latin aemulus meaning "rival" or "one who strives to equal or excel." That root gives the name a quietly competitive, ambitious undertone — the striver, the one who reaches. The Aemilii were one of Rome's great patrician families, and the name passed through medieval Europe in the form of Emmeline, Amalia, Amelia, and Emily before the full flowering of Emily in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English literature brought the root name to prominence.
Emily Brontë gave the name its most enduring literary crown: the author of Wuthering Heights transformed the name into a byword for passionate, wind-swept romanticism. Emily Dickinson added intellectual severity and formal experimentation to the name's legacy. These two towering Emilys of the nineteenth century ensured the name would carry literary prestige for generations.
Emmy, as the name of the American television award (derived from "immy," slang for the image orthicon camera tube), added a twentieth-century pop-culture sparkle to the constellation of Emy/Emmy/Emi variants. The spelling Emy — spare and continental, common in France, Belgium, and parts of Scandinavia — strips away the double-m and the y-ending of Emmy to create something quieter and more understated. It has a handwritten, personal quality, like a name that belongs entirely to the person who carries it. For parents who love the warmth of Emily but want something less ubiquitous, Emy offers the same deep roots with a fresher silhouette.