Alma
Alma was given to 689 girls in 2025, #449 among girls’ names; 165,942 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 54,000 Americans named Alma and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (33% of everyone recorded); the median is 52 years old and half are between 29 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Alma by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Alma mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Alma is “a female given name from Latin, popular in the 19th century.” Its etymology gives the sense “nourishing, kind” (alma).
Usually explained as Latin alma (“nourishing, kind”). It has also been used as a short form of Germanic compound names beginning with the element Amal-, as in Amelia.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Alma?
#449 among girls’ names, 2025
Alma rose from #684 in 2015 to #449 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.23 to 0.43 per 1,000.
3,702 babies in 1918, the peak
Alma peaked in 1918, when 3,702 babies were given it (3,650 girls, #73 among girls’ names). The 696 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 19% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 689 | #449 | 0.43 |
| 2024 | 659 | #471 | 0.41 |
| 2023 | 666 | #461 | 0.42 |
| 2022 | 658 | #483 | 0.40 |
| 2021 | 613 | #507 | 0.37 |
| 2020 | 524 | #560 | 0.32 |
| 2019 | 491 | #615 | 0.29 |
| 2018 | 458 | #649 | 0.27 |
| 2017 | 455 | #651 | 0.26 |
| 2016 | 392 | #724 | 0.22 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 417 | #684 | 0.23 |
| 2014 | 421 | #675 | 0.24 |
| 2013 | 402 | #701 | 0.23 |
| 2012 | 313 | #852 | 0.18 |
| 2011 | 298 | #876 | 0.17 |
| 2010 | 318 | #844 | 0.18 |
| 2009 | 349 | #811 | 0.19 |
| 2008 | 369 | #789 | 0.20 |
| 2007 | 415 | #701 | 0.22 |
| 2006 | 475 | #614 | 0.25 |
| 2005 | 481 | #591 | 0.26 |
| 2004 | 453 | #608 | 0.25 |
| 2003 | 421 | #636 | 0.23 |
| 2002 | 515 | #532 | 0.29 |
| 2001 | 527 | #512 | 0.29 |
| 2000 | 548 | #491 | 0.30 |
| 1999 | 532 | #487 | 0.30 |
| 1998 | 527 | #484 | 0.30 |
| 1997 | 536 | #466 | 0.31 |
| 1996 | 566 | #447 | 0.32 |
| 1995 | 583 | #440 | 0.33 |
| 1994 | 586 | #429 | 0.33 |
| 1993 | 645 | #393 | 0.36 |
| 1992 | 702 | #365 | 0.38 |
| 1991 | 668 | #386 | 0.36 |
| 1990 | 685 | #386 | 0.36 |
| 1989 | 615 | #400 | 0.33 |
| 1988 | 511 | #444 | 0.29 |
| 1987 | 492 | #447 | 0.28 |
| 1986 | 521 | #420 | 0.30 |
| 1985 | 549 | #409 | 0.32 |
| 1984 | 530 | #399 | 0.31 |
| 1983 | 522 | #412 | 0.31 |
| 1982 | 603 | #381 | 0.36 |
| 1981 | 687 | #340 | 0.41 |
| 1980 | 658 | #358 | 0.40 |
| 1979 | 579 | #383 | 0.36 |
| 1978 | 513 | #402 | 0.33 |
| 1977 | 564 | #375 | 0.37 |
| 1976 | 580 | #362 | 0.40 |
| 1975 | 520 | #391 | 0.36 |
| 1974 | 595 | #362 | 0.41 |
| 1973 | 555 | #378 | 0.38 |
| 1972 | 568 | #379 | 0.37 |
| 1971 | 584 | #387 | 0.35 |
| 1970 | 534 | #420 | 0.31 |
| 1969 | 510 | #427 | 0.30 |
| 1968 | 543 | #397 | 0.33 |
| 1967 | 604 | #365 | 0.37 |
| 1966 | 599 | #370 | 0.35 |
| 1965 | 551 | #397 | 0.31 |
| 1964 | 616 | #388 | 0.33 |
| 1963 | 670 | #374 | 0.35 |
| 1962 | 713 | #357 | 0.36 |
| 1961 | 788 | #334 | 0.39 |
| 1960 | 788 | #334 | 0.39 |
| 1959 | 814 | #332 | 0.40 |
| 1958 | 766 | #339 | 0.38 |
| 1957 | 983 | #285 | 0.48 |
| 1956 | 948 | #284 | 0.47 |
| 1955 | 963 | #277 | 0.49 |
| 1954 | 1,013 | #260 | 0.52 |
| 1953 | 1,088 | #245 | 0.58 |
| 1952 | 1,029 | #246 | 0.55 |
| 1951 | 981 | #246 | 0.54 |
| 1950 | 1,052 | #232 | 0.61 |
| 1949 | 1,054 | #229 | 0.62 |
| 1948 | 1,160 | #214 | 0.68 |
| 1947 | 1,184 | #215 | 0.67 |
| 1946 | 1,170 | #208 | 0.74 |
| 1945 | 1,081 | #188 | 0.83 |
| 1944 | 1,217 | #176 | 0.92 |
| 1943 | 1,336 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1942 | 1,407 | #165 | 1.0 |
| 1941 | 1,364 | #163 | 1.1 |
| 1940 | 1,428 | #152 | 1.2 |
| 1939 | 1,496 | #150 | 1.4 |
| 1938 | 1,558 | #147 | 1.4 |
| 1937 | 1,626 | #138 | 1.5 |
| 1936 | 1,610 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1935 | 1,679 | #132 | 1.6 |
| 1934 | 1,903 | #123 | 1.8 |
| 1933 | 1,839 | #124 | 1.8 |
| 1932 | 2,045 | #119 | 1.9 |
| 1931 | 2,115 | #114 | 2.0 |
| 1930 | 2,380 | #109 | 2.1 |
| 1929 | 2,389 | #106 | 2.1 |
| 1928 | 2,496 | #107 | 2.2 |
| 1927 | 2,847 | #97 | 2.4 |
| 1926 | 2,990 | #91 | 2.5 |
| 1925 | 2,996 | #94 | 2.5 |
| 1924 | 3,240 | #87 | 2.6 |
| 1923 | 3,070 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1922 | 3,233 | #84 | 2.7 |
| 1921 | 3,589 | #78 | 2.9 |
| 1920 | 3,584 | #80 | 3.0 |
| 1919 | 3,438 | #76 | 3.0 |
| 1918 | 3,650 | #73 | 3.2 |
| 1917 | 3,407 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 1916 | 3,403 | #70 | 3.3 |
| 1915 | 3,248 | #70 | 3.3 |
| 1914 | 2,648 | #69 | 3.5 |
| 1913 | 2,297 | #64 | 3.7 |
| 1912 | 2,183 | #62 | 3.9 |
| 1911 | 1,611 | #62 | 3.9 |
| 1910 | 1,630 | #61 | 4.1 |
| 1909 | 1,375 | #61 | 4.0 |
| 1908 | 1,474 | #53 | 4.4 |
| 1907 | 1,347 | #58 | 4.2 |
| 1906 | 1,266 | #57 | 4.3 |
| 1905 | 1,333 | #56 | 4.6 |
| 1904 | 1,257 | #55 | 4.6 |
| 1903 | 1,244 | #53 | 4.7 |
| 1902 | 1,229 | #55 | 4.7 |
| 1901 | 1,195 | #52 | 5.0 |
| 1900 | 1,372 | #57 | 4.6 |
| 1899 | 1,146 | #51 | 4.9 |
| 1898 | 1,299 | #52 | 5.0 |
| 1897 | 1,213 | #51 | 5.2 |
| 1896 | 1,243 | #51 | 5.2 |
| 1895 | 1,144 | #55 | 4.9 |
| 1894 | 1,177 | #52 | 5.3 |
| 1893 | 1,055 | #54 | 5.0 |
| 1892 | 1,056 | #56 | 5.0 |
| 1891 | 929 | #55 | 5.0 |
| 1890 | 922 | #57 | 4.8 |
| 1889 | 819 | #62 | 4.6 |
| 1888 | 853 | #58 | 4.8 |
| 1887 | 623 | #63 | 4.3 |
| 1886 | 603 | #62 | 4.2 |
| 1885 | 515 | #68 | 3.9 |
| 1884 | 480 | #70 | 3.7 |
| 1883 | 359 | #79 | 3.2 |
| 1882 | 368 | #74 | 3.4 |
| 1881 | 293 | #78 | 3.2 |
| 1880 | 277 | #82 | 3.0 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Alma a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 165,942 Americans recorded as Alma, 99% are girls and 1% boys. In 2025 it went to 689 girls and 7 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Alma: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Alma, and how old are they?
54,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 33% of the 165,942 Americans ever recorded as Alma. The median Alma alive today is 52 years old; half are between 29 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 102,369 people named Alma (101,619 women and girls, 750 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 59,439 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.7 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 8,010 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 13,700 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 8,590 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 9,430 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,110 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,880 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Alma born?
The states with the most babies named Alma are Texas, California and North Carolina, with 27% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 16,227 | #422 | 1.9× |
| California | 13,242 | #327 | 1.6× |
| North Carolina | 6,182 | #687 | 1.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 6,101 | #596 | 0.6× |
| New York | 5,523 | #329 | 0.5× |
| Kentucky | 5,420 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| Georgia | 5,199 | #676 | 1.2× |
| Tennessee | 4,868 | #605 | 1.4× |
| Illinois | 4,811 | #419 | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 4,338 | #484 | 0.6× |
Where Alma is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Alma is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Alma with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 167,605 babies since 1880, Alma is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 696 of their 720 babies (97%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Alma
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Alma and names like it
- Compare Alma and AlomaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sAlma peaked in 1918.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Alma since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Alma: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Alma.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Alma alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with AMost given first.