How rare is the name Elma?

8,574 people in the United States have the first name Elma, about 1 in 35,226. It ranks #2,735 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ELMA

#2,735

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,574
About
1 in 35,226
This common or more
80.7%
Who bears it

Of the 8,574 people named Elma, 38.4% reported their origin as White, 33.8% as Hispanic or Latino and 14% as Black. 98.5% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Elma peaked in 1918, when 674 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1918
Births that year
674
In 2025*
32 ▼95%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 22,186 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Elma by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #342. The largest share of babies named Elma, 49.7%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#443643
1890s#3531,361
1900s#3421,945
1910s#4324,916
1920s#5395,161
1930s#6952,893
1940s#9961,877
1950s#1,5541,159
1960s#2,230654
1970s#3,844329
1980s#6,458196
1990s#8,605183
2000s#6,133411
2010s#8,034298
2020s#8,544160
Before 19019.9%
Greatest Generation 1901–2749.7%
Silent Generation 1928–4522.2%
Baby boom 1946–6410%
Generation X 1965–802.7%
Millennials 1981–961.3%
Generation Z 1997–122.6%
2013 and later1.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Elma is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Elma has been most common in Mississippi (3.3×), West Virginia (3.2×), and Louisiana (2.6×), and least common in Massachusetts (0.09×).

14,478 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Elma

#2,732 Monroe · 8,580#2,734 Kaci · 8,575#2,736 Everardo · 8,573#2,737 Natalee · 8,560

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Elma, most common first.

#6,457 Elmo · 2,485#9,355 Elna · 1,489#39,013 Elmi · 195#45,337 Elmy · 150

Also a last name

As a last name, Elma ranks #86,153 of 156,621, with 233 people. See Elma as a last name

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