# Alma (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/alma/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | “nourishing”, “kind” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 165,942 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,219 / 163,723 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,080, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 298 | 876 |
| 2012 | 313 | 852 |
| 2013 | 402 | 701 |
| 2014 | 421 | 675 |
| 2015 | 417 | 684 |
| 2016 | 392 | 724 |
| 2017 | 455 | 651 |
| 2018 | 458 | 649 |
| 2019 | 491 | 615 |
| 2020 | 524 | 560 |
| 2021 | 613 | 507 |
| 2022 | 658 | 483 |
| 2023 | 666 | 461 |
| 2024 | 659 | 471 |
| 2025 | 689 | 449 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 5 | 12,446 |
| 2008 | 6 | 11,103 |
| 2009 | 5 | 12,570 |
| 2011 | 6 | 10,867 |
| 2012 | 6 | 10,846 |
| 2013 | 8 | 8,830 |
| 2015 | 9 | 8,066 |
| 2016 | 8 | 8,866 |
| 2017 | 11 | 7,115 |
| 2018 | 5 | 12,251 |
| 2020 | 5 | 12,130 |
| 2021 | 6 | 10,864 |
| 2023 | 5 | 12,337 |
| 2024 | 10 | 7,795 |
| 2025 | 7 | 9,766 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 55 | 702 |
| 2012 | 53 | 749 |
| 2013 | 58 | 684 |
| 2014 | 64 | 629 |
| 2015 | 68 | 609 |
| 2016 | 80 | 529 |
| 2017 | 106 | 413 |
| 2018 | 127 | 362 |
| 2019 | 129 | 345 |
| 2020 | 153 | 304 |
| 2021 | 177 | 267 |
| 2022 | 164 | 279 |
| 2023 | 205 | 228 |
| 2024 | 205 | 234 |
| 2025 | 222 | 211 |

## In other languages

- Danish: Alma
- Finnish: Alma
- German: Alma
- Hebrew: עַלְמָה
- Latvian: Alma
- Norwegian: Alma
- Spanish: Alma
- Swedish: Alma

## People named Alma

- Alma Mahler, Austrian composer, art collector, author, editor, and socialite (1879-1964)
- Alma Deutscher, British composer, pianist and violinist
- Alma Reville, English film editor and screenwriter (1899–1982)
- Alma Zadić, Austrian lawyer and politician
- Alma, Finnish singer-songwriter (born 1996)
- Alma Richards, American Olympic high jump gold medalist athlete, soldier, lawyer and teacher (1890–1963)
- Alma Cogan, British pop singer (1932–1966)
- Alma Rubens, American actress (1897-1931)
- Alma Adamkienė, First Lady of Lithuania, wife of Valdas Adamkus (1927–2023)
- Alma Gluck, American singer (1884–1938)
- Alma Adams, American politician in North Carolina (born 1946)
- Alma Bennett, American actress (1904-1958)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.