How common is the name Norma?

197,653 people in the United States have the first name Norma, about 1 in 1,528. It ranks #281 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NORMA

#281

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
197,653
About
1 in 1,528
This common or more
47.8%
Who bears it

Of the 197,653 people named Norma, 47.4% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 42.9% as White and 5.6% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Norma peaked in 1931, when 8,796 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1931
Births that year
8,796
In 2025*
95 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 279,349 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.

Norma by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #53. The largest share of babies named Norma, 41.8%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1880s#464590
1890s#2951,885
1900s#2403,341
1910s#19715,543
1920s#6765,461
1930s#5373,221
1940s#13643,206
1950s#24530,927
1960s#32621,636
1970s#47410,380
1980s#7425,667
1990s#1,0824,134
2000s#2,0581,992
2010s#3,957852
2020s#3,934514
Before 19011%
Greatest Generation 1901–2724.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4541.8%
Baby boom 1946–6421.3%
Generation X 1965–807.2%
Millennials 1981–962.9%
Generation Z 1997–121.2%
2013 and later0.4%

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 Norma is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Norma has been most common in West Virginia (2.3×), Oklahoma (2.2×), and Nebraska (2×), and least common in Alaska (0.16×).

269,036 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 Norma

#279 Caroline · 199,035#280 Audrey · 198,826#282 Danny · 197,114#283 Rose · 196,309

Spelled almost the same

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

#6,364 Norm · 2,533#36,519 Norna · 217

Compare