Norma
Norma was given to 95 girls in 2025, #2,012 among girls’ names; 279,349 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 106,000 Americans named Norma and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (38% of everyone recorded); the median is 71 years old and half are between 59 and 82.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Norma by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Norma mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Norma is “a female given name originating as a coinage.”
Coined name of an imaginary Celtic priestess in Bellini’s opera Norma (1831). Sometimes explained as Latin norma (“pattern, model”), or as a feminine form of Norman.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Norma?
#2,012 among girls’ names, 2025
Norma rose from #2,399 in 2015 to #2,012 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 43.1 to 59.1 per million.
8,796 babies in 1931, the peak
Norma peaked in 1931, when 8,796 babies were given it (8,759 girls, #22 among girls’ names). The 95 births of 2025 are 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 95 | #2,012 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 69 | #2,580 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 87 | #2,191 | 0.05 |
| 2022 | 89 | #2,153 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 99 | #1,977 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 75 | #2,372 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 74 | #2,422 | 0.04 |
| 2018 | 81 | #2,267 | 0.05 |
| 2017 | 81 | #2,299 | 0.05 |
| 2016 | 87 | #2,216 | 0.05 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 77 | #2,399 | 0.04 |
| 2014 | 84 | #2,252 | 0.05 |
| 2013 | 86 | #2,184 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 60 | #2,894 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 105 | #1,905 | 0.06 |
| 2010 | 117 | #1,766 | 0.07 |
| 2009 | 126 | #1,740 | 0.07 |
| 2008 | 151 | #1,537 | 0.08 |
| 2007 | 151 | #1,529 | 0.08 |
| 2006 | 205 | #1,187 | 0.11 |
| 2005 | 194 | #1,188 | 0.10 |
| 2004 | 210 | #1,092 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 203 | #1,089 | 0.11 |
| 2002 | 242 | #928 | 0.13 |
| 2001 | 266 | #859 | 0.15 |
| 2000 | 244 | #899 | 0.13 |
| 1999 | 292 | #759 | 0.16 |
| 1998 | 307 | #720 | 0.17 |
| 1997 | 355 | #632 | 0.20 |
| 1996 | 332 | #668 | 0.19 |
| 1995 | 456 | #528 | 0.26 |
| 1994 | 452 | #541 | 0.25 |
| 1993 | 451 | #531 | 0.25 |
| 1992 | 462 | #515 | 0.25 |
| 1991 | 508 | #480 | 0.27 |
| 1990 | 494 | #493 | 0.26 |
| 1989 | 534 | #455 | 0.29 |
| 1988 | 449 | #501 | 0.25 |
| 1987 | 464 | #471 | 0.27 |
| 1986 | 472 | #457 | 0.28 |
| 1985 | 498 | #439 | 0.29 |
| 1984 | 463 | #450 | 0.27 |
| 1983 | 519 | #418 | 0.31 |
| 1982 | 669 | #350 | 0.40 |
| 1981 | 729 | #323 | 0.44 |
| 1980 | 756 | #320 | 0.46 |
| 1979 | 774 | #310 | 0.48 |
| 1978 | 721 | #317 | 0.47 |
| 1977 | 778 | #306 | 0.51 |
| 1976 | 925 | #258 | 0.63 |
| 1975 | 1,022 | #236 | 0.70 |
| 1974 | 1,062 | #241 | 0.72 |
| 1973 | 1,043 | #242 | 0.72 |
| 1972 | 1,151 | #239 | 0.76 |
| 1971 | 1,361 | #223 | 0.82 |
| 1970 | 1,435 | #218 | 0.82 |
| 1969 | 1,556 | #203 | 0.92 |
| 1968 | 1,550 | #201 | 0.94 |
| 1967 | 1,828 | #173 | 1.1 |
| 1966 | 1,860 | #178 | 1.1 |
| 1965 | 2,049 | #171 | 1.2 |
| 1964 | 2,429 | #157 | 1.3 |
| 1963 | 2,458 | #163 | 1.3 |
| 1962 | 2,678 | #155 | 1.4 |
| 1961 | 2,549 | #164 | 1.3 |
| 1960 | 2,562 | #162 | 1.3 |
| 1959 | 2,721 | #157 | 1.3 |
| 1958 | 2,737 | #149 | 1.4 |
| 1957 | 2,984 | #141 | 1.5 |
| 1956 | 3,046 | #138 | 1.5 |
| 1955 | 2,935 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1954 | 3,103 | #128 | 1.6 |
| 1953 | 3,168 | #122 | 1.7 |
| 1952 | 3,341 | #112 | 1.8 |
| 1951 | 3,355 | #107 | 1.9 |
| 1950 | 3,411 | #104 | 2.0 |
| 1949 | 3,412 | #105 | 2.0 |
| 1948 | 3,593 | #103 | 2.1 |
| 1947 | 4,425 | #82 | 2.5 |
| 1946 | 4,266 | #77 | 2.7 |
| 1945 | 3,603 | #74 | 2.8 |
| 1944 | 3,863 | #66 | 2.9 |
| 1943 | 4,542 | #58 | 3.3 |
| 1942 | 4,971 | #52 | 3.7 |
| 1941 | 5,021 | #47 | 4.2 |
| 1940 | 5,334 | #43 | 4.7 |
| 1939 | 5,827 | #38 | 5.3 |
| 1938 | 6,368 | #34 | 5.8 |
| 1937 | 6,235 | #33 | 5.9 |
| 1936 | 6,633 | #29 | 6.4 |
| 1935 | 6,869 | #29 | 6.6 |
| 1934 | 7,788 | #24 | 7.5 |
| 1933 | 7,482 | #23 | 7.4 |
| 1932 | 8,406 | #22 | 7.9 |
| 1931 | 8,759 | #22 | 8.2 |
| 1930 | 8,511 | #25 | 7.6 |
| 1929 | 7,893 | #25 | 7.1 |
| 1928 | 8,166 | #23 | 7.1 |
| 1927 | 7,997 | #26 | 6.7 |
| 1926 | 7,528 | #29 | 6.4 |
| 1925 | 6,941 | #34 | 5.7 |
| 1924 | 6,542 | #40 | 5.2 |
| 1923 | 5,885 | #41 | 4.9 |
| 1922 | 5,238 | #46 | 4.4 |
| 1921 | 5,102 | #51 | 4.1 |
| 1920 | 3,949 | #69 | 3.3 |
| 1919 | 3,199 | #83 | 2.8 |
| 1918 | 2,653 | #98 | 2.3 |
| 1917 | 2,123 | #108 | 2.0 |
| 1916 | 1,921 | #111 | 1.8 |
| 1915 | 1,737 | #118 | 1.8 |
| 1914 | 1,172 | #128 | 1.5 |
| 1913 | 878 | #139 | 1.4 |
| 1912 | 800 | #137 | 1.4 |
| 1911 | 531 | #153 | 1.3 |
| 1910 | 486 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1909 | 438 | #158 | 1.3 |
| 1908 | 430 | #157 | 1.3 |
| 1907 | 375 | #164 | 1.2 |
| 1906 | 332 | #165 | 1.1 |
| 1905 | 311 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1904 | 281 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1903 | 311 | #158 | 1.2 |
| 1902 | 277 | #172 | 1.0 |
| 1901 | 264 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 1900 | 316 | #174 | 1.1 |
| 1899 | 214 | #191 | 0.92 |
| 1898 | 241 | #187 | 0.93 |
| 1897 | 200 | #195 | 0.85 |
| 1896 | 197 | #198 | 0.83 |
| 1895 | 219 | #181 | 0.94 |
| 1894 | 174 | #202 | 0.78 |
| 1893 | 189 | #187 | 0.89 |
| 1892 | 190 | #184 | 0.89 |
| 1891 | 127 | #209 | 0.68 |
| 1890 | 134 | #207 | 0.70 |
| 1889 | 108 | #223 | 0.61 |
| 1888 | 101 | #230 | 0.57 |
| 1887 | 77 | #240 | 0.53 |
| 1886 | 72 | #241 | 0.50 |
| 1885 | 51 | #277 | 0.38 |
| 1884 | 42 | #299 | 0.33 |
| 1883 | 49 | #260 | 0.44 |
| 1882 | 32 | #315 | 0.30 |
| 1881 | 26 | #314 | 0.28 |
| 1880 | 32 | #277 | 0.35 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Norma a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Norma has been given almost only to girls: 1,278 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Norma: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Norma, and how old are they?
106,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 38% of the 279,349 Americans ever recorded as Norma. The median Norma alive today is 71 years old; half are between 59 and 82.
The 2020 Census counted 197,653 people named Norma (197,245 women and girls, 408 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 135,868 born in the U.S. The Census count is 45% above 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 | 29,600 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 45,200 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 18,400 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 7,850 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,190 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,080 |
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 Norma born?
The states with the most babies named Norma are Texas, California and New York, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 27,517 | #1,689 | 1.7× |
| California | 19,940 | #2,434 | 1.3× |
| New York | 17,805 | #2,012 | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 15,835 | #1,394 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 15,560 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 13,303 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Indiana | 10,886 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Missouri | 10,844 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Michigan | 9,574 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Oklahoma | 8,319 | not ranked | 1.6× |
Where Norma is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Norma is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 1.7 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 Norma 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 Norma
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 Norma and names like it
- Compare Norma and BettyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sNorma peaked in 1931.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Norma since 1910.
- Coined namesWiktionary’s origin for Norma: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1931The year the most babies were named Norma.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Norma alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with NMost given first.