How to Write Emily in Cursive

Your name in school cursive with the capital, the joins and the tricky spots explained, plus a printable practice sheet.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · October 2026 · How we review content

"Emily" in Playwrite US Trad, a typeface modelled on traditional school cursive.

Emily is six letters of mostly narrow strokes, so it is quick to write once you've settled the humps of the m. The capital E connects into the m, and the end of the name has a tall l and a y whose tail drops below the line. The name has fewer tall loops than most long names, which gives it a calm look.

Copy and paste "Emily" in cursive

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Letter by letter

Each distinct letter in "Emily" has its own stroke-by-stroke page.

The joins in Emily

Em: Roll the E's undercurve over the top into the m's first hump so the join is rounded. A pointed join makes the first hump look like half a u, and the name can misread as Euily.
mi: The m's exit turns into the i's short upstroke. Keep the i narrow and its point sharp, then dot it after the name, so the three humps and the stem don't blur.
il: The i exits at the baseline and climbs straight into the l's tall loop. Make the climb steep and the loop narrow, so the l stands out against the small letters.
ly: The l's exit goes into the y's overcurve. Draw the y with a pointed top on the left and drop its tail below the baseline in a loop that closes to the left, finishing the name.

Tricky spots

The y's tail: The y at the end has a descending loop. Close it to the left and cross at the baseline; if you leave the tail open, the y can be mistaken for a g or j.
Humps and i together: The m's last hump and the i's stem are close in width. Keep the i narrower and shorter than the humps so that mi does not look like four equal strokes.
Dot placement: The dot of the i should sit directly above its stem. With only one i in the middle of the name, a misplaced dot over the l or m can confuse the reading.

The capital E

Capital E is drawn like a backward 3 with a small loop in the middle and ends in an undercurve, so it joins the m. Keep it about twice the height of the lowercase letters, and keep the loop small so the E doesn't turn into a heart shape.

Emily as a signature

The E and the y give two natural flourish spots: a looping entry at the start and a long tail at the end. Keep the l between them clearly readable. A plain signature can end with the y's tail swung under the name as an underline, which works because there are no other descenders to clash with it.

Short forms of Emily

Common short forms are Em, Emmy and Millie. Em is a two-letter capital E and m, Emmy adds a second m and a y, and Millie is a different arrangement, with a capital M and a double l.

As a tattoo

Emily is a good tattoo name because it has one descender and one tall loop, and the rest sits within the line. Keep the m's humps spaced, around 8 mm x-height, and ask for a stencil to check the E's loop and the y's tail.

Printable practice sheet

Trace the grey letters, then write your own on the empty lines. Prints on one page (Letter or A4).

Cursive practice: Emily

Name: ____________________ coolletteringgenerator.com

Copy-paste versions of Emily

Copy-paste Emily in script is ℰ𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎 and in bold script is 𝓔𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂. The capital ℰ (U+2130) is the only borrowed letter, taken from the Letterlike Symbols block, and it comes first, so it is the first thing a viewer sees. The five lowercase letters are all in the main script range. If the E looks off on your device, bold script is the way to get a match.

Emily in cursive: questions

How do you write Emily in cursive?

Write a capital E, roll its exit into a three-hump m, then add i, l and y. The l has a tall loop and the y has a tail that loops back to the left. Dot the i at the end.

Does the E connect to the m in Emily?

Yes. The capital E closes on an undercurve that leads straight into the following letter. Curve the exit so it rolls over into the first hump of the m rather than arriving at a point. A pointed join makes the first hump look like half a u, and the start of Emily can then read as Euily to a quick reader.

What does Emily look like in cursive?

It looks like a looped capital E, a row of humps from the m, a dotted i, a tall l and a descending y. It is mostly narrow, upright strokes, with only one tall loop and one tail. That gives Emily a calm, even outline compared with names that carry several tall loops.

How do I stop the y from looking like a g in Emily?

Give the y a pointed top on its left stroke and a tail that loops left below the line. A g would have a closed oval at the top, which a y never has. Close the tail at the baseline so it does not read as a j, and keep it narrow so it clears the next line.