Imelda
Imelda was given to 33 girls in 2025, #4,294 among girls’ names; 7,476 Americans have been recorded with it since 1891 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,380 Americans named Imelda and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (72% of everyone recorded); the median is 47 years old and half are between 32 and 59.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Imelda by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Imelda mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Imelda is “a female given name from the Romance languages.”
From Romance (Italian Imelda, Spanish Imelda), from German Irmhild.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Imelda?
#4,294 among girls’ names, 2025
Imelda rose from #6,558 in 2015 to #4,294 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 10.6 to 20.5 per million.
149 babies in 1978, the peak
Imelda peaked in 1978, when 149 girls were given it, #947 among girls’ names. The 33 births of 2025 are 22% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 33 | #4,294 | 20.5 |
| 2024 | 42 | #3,667 | 25.9 |
| 2023 | 32 | #4,397 | 19.9 |
| 2022 | 33 | #4,315 | 20.1 |
| 2021 | 39 | #3,830 | 23.8 |
| 2020 | 41 | #3,647 | 25.4 |
| 2019 | 30 | #4,586 | 17.9 |
| 2018 | 38 | #3,878 | 22.3 |
| 2017 | 32 | #4,429 | 18.5 |
| 2016 | 35 | #4,192 | 19.8 |
Every recorded year (130)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 19 | #6,558 | 10.6 |
| 2014 | 24 | #5,532 | 13.4 |
| 2013 | 27 | #5,062 | 15.4 |
| 2012 | 33 | #4,420 | 18.7 |
| 2011 | 23 | #5,810 | 13.1 |
| 2010 | 25 | #5,490 | 14.1 |
| 2009 | 35 | #4,303 | 19.1 |
| 2008 | 41 | #3,888 | 21.7 |
| 2007 | 49 | #3,399 | 25.5 |
| 2006 | 58 | #2,948 | 30.5 |
| 2005 | 55 | #2,941 | 29.8 |
| 2004 | 50 | #3,087 | 27.2 |
| 2003 | 55 | #2,809 | 30.1 |
| 2002 | 42 | #3,291 | 23.4 |
| 2001 | 68 | #2,338 | 37.8 |
| 2000 | 57 | #2,601 | 31.4 |
| 1999 | 48 | #2,821 | 27.1 |
| 1998 | 72 | #2,052 | 40.7 |
| 1997 | 69 | #2,053 | 39.6 |
| 1996 | 59 | #2,262 | 33.7 |
| 1995 | 89 | #1,653 | 50.6 |
| 1994 | 65 | #2,107 | 36.4 |
| 1993 | 75 | #1,884 | 41.5 |
| 1992 | 95 | #1,612 | 51.5 |
| 1991 | 88 | #1,677 | 46.9 |
| 1990 | 88 | #1,670 | 46.4 |
| 1989 | 90 | #1,563 | 48.8 |
| 1988 | 61 | #1,970 | 34.3 |
| 1987 | 74 | #1,650 | 42.6 |
| 1986 | 81 | #1,517 | 47.2 |
| 1985 | 71 | #1,656 | 41.3 |
| 1984 | 80 | #1,452 | 47.5 |
| 1983 | 91 | #1,321 | 54.5 |
| 1982 | 110 | #1,214 | 65.0 |
| 1981 | 120 | #1,141 | 71.9 |
| 1980 | 119 | #1,143 | 71.7 |
| 1979 | 105 | #1,232 | 65.4 |
| 1978 | 149 | #947 | 97.3 |
| 1977 | 138 | #988 | 90.0 |
| 1976 | 137 | #937 | 93.5 |
| 1975 | 137 | #931 | 94.0 |
| 1974 | 127 | #971 | 86.5 |
| 1973 | 130 | #937 | 89.2 |
| 1972 | 103 | #1,101 | 67.7 |
| 1971 | 141 | #925 | 84.7 |
| 1970 | 116 | #1,054 | 66.4 |
| 1969 | 99 | #1,113 | 58.7 |
| 1968 | 94 | #1,101 | 57.3 |
| 1967 | 76 | #1,223 | 46.0 |
| 1966 | 77 | #1,227 | 45.5 |
| 1965 | 77 | #1,233 | 43.6 |
| 1964 | 60 | #1,464 | 31.7 |
| 1963 | 80 | #1,230 | 41.5 |
| 1962 | 67 | #1,354 | 34.1 |
| 1961 | 78 | #1,252 | 38.6 |
| 1960 | 78 | #1,240 | 38.6 |
| 1959 | 67 | #1,309 | 33.1 |
| 1958 | 80 | #1,189 | 39.8 |
| 1957 | 86 | #1,137 | 42.1 |
| 1956 | 63 | #1,313 | 31.4 |
| 1955 | 76 | #1,146 | 38.9 |
| 1954 | 54 | #1,368 | 27.8 |
| 1953 | 65 | #1,200 | 34.6 |
| 1952 | 59 | #1,240 | 31.8 |
| 1951 | 57 | #1,229 | 31.7 |
| 1950 | 59 | #1,204 | 34.4 |
| 1949 | 48 | #1,327 | 28.1 |
| 1948 | 59 | #1,176 | 34.7 |
| 1947 | 61 | #1,155 | 34.4 |
| 1946 | 42 | #1,342 | 26.7 |
| 1945 | 34 | #1,383 | 26.0 |
| 1944 | 25 | #1,676 | 18.8 |
| 1943 | 32 | #1,478 | 22.9 |
| 1942 | 37 | #1,331 | 27.4 |
| 1941 | 40 | #1,194 | 33.1 |
| 1940 | 34 | #1,281 | 29.7 |
| 1939 | 37 | #1,205 | 33.7 |
| 1938 | 63 | #893 | 57.1 |
| 1937 | 32 | #1,291 | 30.1 |
| 1936 | 49 | #982 | 47.1 |
| 1935 | 41 | #1,089 | 39.1 |
| 1934 | 38 | #1,154 | 36.4 |
| 1933 | 48 | #1,002 | 47.6 |
| 1932 | 50 | #1,000 | 46.9 |
| 1931 | 50 | #988 | 47.0 |
| 1930 | 68 | #871 | 60.4 |
| 1929 | 53 | #995 | 47.5 |
| 1928 | 79 | #809 | 68.5 |
| 1927 | 64 | #943 | 53.7 |
| 1926 | 72 | #874 | 60.7 |
| 1925 | 54 | #1,025 | 44.4 |
| 1924 | 55 | #1,052 | 44.0 |
| 1923 | 60 | #959 | 49.7 |
| 1922 | 49 | #1,095 | 40.8 |
| 1921 | 61 | #949 | 49.5 |
| 1920 | 50 | #1,057 | 41.7 |
| 1919 | 61 | #903 | 54.0 |
| 1918 | 57 | #955 | 49.2 |
| 1917 | 66 | #847 | 61.0 |
| 1916 | 63 | #860 | 60.3 |
| 1915 | 55 | #886 | 55.9 |
| 1914 | 44 | #882 | 57.8 |
| 1913 | 35 | #903 | 56.0 |
| 1912 | 27 | #987 | 48.4 |
| 1911 | 32 | #770 | 76.5 |
| 1910 | 17 | #1,089 | 42.9 |
| 1909 | 19 | #947 | 54.7 |
| 1908 | 9 | #1,482 | 26.9 |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,718 | 22.0 |
| 1906 | 7 | #1,632 | 23.7 |
| 1905 | 12 | #1,123 | 41.1 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,757 | 21.8 |
| 1903 | 8 | #1,377 | 30.5 |
| 1902 | 9 | #1,261 | 34.1 |
| 1901 | 15 | #868 | 62.7 |
| 1900 | 13 | #1,075 | 43.4 |
| 1899 | 8 | #1,222 | 34.3 |
| 1898 | 13 | #985 | 50.2 |
| 1895 | 7 | #1,354 | 30.0 |
| 1891 | 5 | #1,414 | 27.0 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Imelda a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Imelda has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 130 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Imelda: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Imelda, and how old are they?
5,380 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 72% of the 7,476 Americans ever recorded as Imelda. The median Imelda alive today is 47 years old; half are between 32 and 59.
The 2020 Census counted 20,817 people named Imelda (20,796 women and girls, 21 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 5,481 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.8 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 | 208 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 971 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,300 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 771 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 422 |
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 Imelda born?
The states with the most babies named Imelda are Texas, California and Illinois, with 88% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 2,223 | not ranked | 4.2× |
| California | 1,760 | #3,283 | 2.6× |
| Illinois | 221 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Massachusetts | 142 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 86 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Arizona | 79 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 55 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| New York | 48 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Wisconsin | 40 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Louisiana | 36 | not ranked | 0.2× |
Where Imelda is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Imelda is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 4.2 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 Imelda with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Imelda
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 Imelda and names like it
- Compare Imelda and LorinaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sImelda peaked in 1978.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Imelda since 1910.
- The top names of 1978The year the most babies were named Imelda.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Imelda alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with IMost given first.