How rare is the name Velma?

23,131 people in the United States have the first name Velma, about 1 in 13,057. It ranks #1,459 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

VELMA

#1,459

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
23,131
About
1 in 13,057
This common or more
74.9%
Who bears it

Of the 23,131 people named Velma, 52% reported their origin as White, 33.4% as Black and 10% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Velma peaked in 1921, when 2,613 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1921
Births that year
2,613
In 2025*
21 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 87,202 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.

Velma by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #137. The largest share of babies named Velma, 50.1%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#619358
1890s#2752,099
1900s#1376,589
1910s#16218,743
1920s#20423,020
1930s#26914,359
1940s#4149,310
1950s#5996,876
1960s#8993,696
1970s#1,8251,134
1980s#3,380512
1990s#8,321191
2000s#16,57797
2010s#16,077107
2020s#10,830111
Before 19013.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2750.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4528.1%
Baby boom 1946–6414.5%
Generation X 1965–802.9%
Millennials 1981–960.7%
Generation Z 1997–120.2%
2013 and later0.2%

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 Velma is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Velma has been most common in Arkansas (4.4×), Mississippi (4.1×), and Oklahoma (3.9×), and least common in New Jersey (0.09×).

74,823 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 Velma

#1,457 Elaina · 23,181#1,458 Zack · 23,160#1,460 Katy · 23,113#1,461 Waylon · 23,106

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Velma, most common first.

#48,513 Velna · 131

Compare