How rare is the name Zelma?

3,820 people in the United States have the first name Zelma, about 1 in 79,066. It ranks #4,755 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

ZELMA

#4,755

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
3,820
About
1 in 79,066
This common or more
84.5%
Who bears it

Of the 3,820 people named Zelma, 53% reported their origin as White, 32.5% as Black and 10.1% as Hispanic or Latino. 99.2% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Zelma peaked in 1919, when 494 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1919
Births that year
494
In 2025*
16 ▼97%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 16,936 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.

Zelma by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #357. The largest share of babies named Zelma, 53.5%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#725264
1890s#505795
1900s#3571,827
1910s#4823,933
1920s#6094,149
1930s#7652,469
1940s#1,0911,576
1950s#1,690986
1960s#2,839427
1970s#6,096163
1980s#11,64878
1990s#18,78051
2000s#24,80845
2010s#17,66592
2020s#13,37881
Before 19017%
Greatest Generation 1901–2753.5%
Silent Generation 1928–4524.9%
Baby boom 1946–6410.7%
Generation X 1965–801.9%
Millennials 1981–960.6%
Generation Z 1997–120.5%
2013 and later0.9%

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 Zelma is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Zelma has been most common in Arkansas (5.3×), Oklahoma (4.8×), and Kentucky (4.6×), and least common in California (0.17×).

11,247 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.

Exactly as common as Zelma

1 other first name also has 3,820 people.

#4,755 Myranda · 3,820

Either side of Zelma

#4,754 Mikala · 3,821#4,755 Myranda · 3,820#4,757 Phu · 3,819#4,758 Anjelica · 3,816

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