Thelma

#4,661 for girls in 2025, 29 births · Last seen for boys in 1969 at #4,404
Given to girls 99.5% of the time

Showing
Show data for
Peak · girls
1910 · 2,976 births
Debut · girls
5 births
In top 100 · girls
42 yrs
of 146 years
Total births · girls
225,460
since 1880

Thelma over time

girls

Rank among girls' names. Click any year to open it.

#1#10#100#1,000#10,000rank188019001920194019601980200020201925peak #25, 1910girls
Hover or use arrow keys to read values by year; click or press Enter to open that year.

Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.

Show data table
Yeargirlsboys
rankbirthsrankbirths
2025#4,66129—
2024#4,29433—
2023#5,39023—
2022#5,02826—
2021#4,32632—
2020#4,75727—
2019#5,61222—
2018#4,88927—
2017#5,04526—
2016#4,42332—
2015#4,98127—
2014#5,31025—
2013#6,46219—
2012#5,11427—
2011#8,19614—
2010#6,38220—
2009#4,26935—
2008#4,88230—
2007#5,09728—
2006#4,26534—
2005#3,50942—
2004#4,38731—
2003#3,53240—
2002#4,07131—
2001#2,60058—
2000#2,85450—
1999#2,81248—
1998#2,27962—
1997#2,93441—
1996#2,59148—
1995#1,80279—
1994#1,99970—
1993#1,94272—
1992#1,68889—
1991#1,70286—
1990#1,61792—
1989#1,50695—
1988#1,56484—
1987#1,42492—
1986#1,282105—
1985#1,318101—
1984#1,126122—
1983#1,127119—
1982#972152—
1981#964152—
1980#994148—
1979#905164—
1978#858171—
1977#774195—
1976#750193—
1975#736198—
1974#641238—
1973#682219—
1972#665225—
1971#606281—
1970#621274—
1969#554318#4,4045
1968#480400—
1967#481388—
1966#425475—
1965#379579—
1964#371655—
1963#353720#3,3187
1962#345752#4,0335
1961#339772#4,0655
1960#326835#3,3377
1959#305899—
1958#316847#3,5596
1957#291967—
1956#2541,078—
1955#2461,105#2,43511
1954#2281,241#2,9428
1953#2231,295#3,7985
1952#2091,358#3,3736
1951#1891,528—
1950#1871,458—
1949#1721,625#2,6069
1948#1631,763#2,44310
1947#1531,902#2,25112
1946#1501,794#2,6908
1945#1311,853#3,3385
1944#1311,997#1,89014
1943#1272,210#2,18212
1942#1212,257#2,04213
1941#1082,367#2,33310
1940#1012,461#2,17911
1939#882,696#1,35924
1938#862,866#1,74116
1937#783,062#1,57619
1936#743,196#1,16932
1935#763,190#1,16532
1934#653,646#1,21330
1933#573,636#1,33025
1932#514,272#1,32427
1931#534,440#1,11137
1930#455,250#1,21534
1929#415,476#1,23732
1928#405,978#1,25433
1927#386,303#1,43627
1926#366,585#1,19236
1925#356,823#1,09141
1924#337,316#1,05845
1923#317,379#1,35829
1922#317,254#1,43427
1921#307,839#1,29632
1920#317,814#1,27332
1919#317,558#1,04742
1918#327,740#1,01244
1917#327,245#1,29128
1916#297,290#1,20630
1915#306,762#1,24128
1914#265,496#1,22123
1913#264,595#91429
1912#264,183#1,02320
1911#273,166#98212
1910#252,976#72917
1909#262,612#84012
1908#262,526#1,0218
1907#282,339#73513
1906#312,114#70912
1905#361,945#78610
1904#371,757#8109
1903#471,479#7839
1902#521,309#1,0136
1901#571,090—
1900#731,094—
1899#78736—
1898#99605—
1897#117419#9426
1896#167260#1,1015
1895#205173—
1894#33370—
1893#41442—
1892#47133—
1891#51425—
1890#55822—
1889#51624—
1888#66315—
1887#9377—
1886#65712—
1885——
1884#8517—
1883#8176—
1882——
1881——
1880#8365—
First appearance
1880

In the first year the SSA published name data, Thelma was already there! It came in at #836, and was given to 5 baby girls.


Quietest stretch: 1880–1882, when fewer than 6 girls a year got the name.

Where Thelma is popular in 1925

  • Rank in state
  • Top 10
  • 11–50
  • 51–100
  • 101–500
  • 501+
  • Not published
Alaska: fewer than 5 girls named Thelma, so not publishedAKMaine: #45 for girls · 42 births · 1 in 157 girlsMEVermont: #34 for girls · 22 births · 1 in 119 girlsVTNew Hampshire: #48 for girls · 22 births · 1 in 157 girlsNHWashington: #64 for girls · 40 births · 1 in 245 girlsWAIdaho: #23 for girls · 34 births · 1 in 106 girlsIDMontana: #41 for girls · 25 births · 1 in 154 girlsMTNorth Dakota: #83 for girls · 23 births · 1 in 268 girlsNDMinnesota: #117 for girls · 38 births · 1 in 575 girlsMNIllinois: #80 for girls · 178 births · 1 in 338 girlsILWisconsin: #129 for girls · 32 births · 1 in 756 girlsWIMichigan: #56 for girls · 186 births · 1 in 220 girlsMINew York: #71 for girls · 368 births · 1 in 272 girlsNYMassachusetts: #65 for girls · 127 births · 1 in 278 girlsMARhode Island: #104 for girls · 14 births · 1 in 407 girlsRIOregon: #47 for girls · 32 births · 1 in 186 girlsORNevada: fewer than 5 girls named Thelma, so not publishedNVWyoming: #48 for girls · 10 births · 1 in 165 girlsWYSouth Dakota: #89 for girls · 19 births · 1 in 313 girlsSDIowa: #60 for girls · 86 births · 1 in 244 girlsIAIndiana: #25 for girls · 198 births · 1 in 136 girlsINOhio: #34 for girls · 354 births · 1 in 156 girlsOHPennsylvania: #41 for girls · 534 births · 1 in 177 girlsPANew Jersey: #85 for girls · 88 births · 1 in 354 girlsNJConnecticut: #87 for girls · 32 births · 1 in 382 girlsCTCalifornia: #56 for girls · 147 births · 1 in 251 girlsCAUtah: #33 for girls · 33 births · 1 in 151 girlsUTColorado: #41 for girls · 51 births · 1 in 172 girlsCONebraska: #53 for girls · 52 births · 1 in 228 girlsNEMissouri: #25 for girls · 227 births · 1 in 138 girlsMOKentucky: #16 for girls · 305 births · 1 in 98 girlsKYWest Virginia: #14 for girls · 207 births · 1 in 99 girlsWVVirginia: #14 for girls · 332 births · 1 in 84 girlsVAMaryland: #19 for girls · 140 births · 1 in 100 girlsMDDelaware: #19 for girls · 21 births · 1 in 73 girlsDEArizona: #76 for girls · 14 births · 1 in 278 girlsAZNew Mexico: #132 for girls · 9 births · 1 in 486 girlsNMKansas: #32 for girls · 103 births · 1 in 155 girlsKSArkansas: #21 for girls · 176 births · 1 in 124 girlsARTennessee: #21 for girls · 256 births · 1 in 114 girlsTNNorth Carolina: #23 for girls · 327 births · 1 in 122 girlsNCSouth Carolina: #20 for girls · 239 births · 1 in 101 girlsSCDistrict of Columbia: #14 for girls · 53 births · 1 in 68 girlsDCOklahoma: #21 for girls · 210 births · 1 in 123 girlsOKLouisiana: #20 for girls · 216 births · 1 in 110 girlsLAMississippi: #31 for girls · 169 births · 1 in 137 girlsMSAlabama: #37 for girls · 200 births · 1 in 165 girlsALGeorgia: #22 for girls · 313 births · 1 in 111 girlsGAHawaii: #24 for girls · 30 births · 1 in 120 girlsHITexas: #27 for girls · 324 births · 1 in 190 girlsTXFlorida: #17 for girls · 159 births · 1 in 94 girlsFL

Hover or tap a state for its numbers.

Top states · girls
  1. District of Columbia#14 · 1 in 68
  2. Virginia#14 · 1 in 84
  3. West Virginia#14 · 1 in 99
  4. Kentucky#16 · 1 in 98
  5. Florida#17 · 1 in 94

Best ever in a state: #5 in Utah, 1910.

Show every state
StateRankBirthsShare
District of Columbia#14531 in 68
Virginia#143321 in 84
West Virginia#142071 in 99
Kentucky#163051 in 98
Florida#171591 in 94
Delaware#19211 in 73
Maryland#191401 in 100
Louisiana#202161 in 110
South Carolina#202391 in 101
Arkansas#211761 in 124
Oklahoma#212101 in 123
Tennessee#212561 in 114
Georgia#223131 in 111
Idaho#23341 in 106
North Carolina#233271 in 122
Hawaii#24301 in 120
Indiana#251981 in 136
Missouri#252271 in 138
Texas#273241 in 190
Mississippi#311691 in 137
Kansas#321031 in 155
Utah#33331 in 151
Ohio#343541 in 156
Vermont#34221 in 119
Alabama#372001 in 165
Colorado#41511 in 172
Montana#41251 in 154
Pennsylvania#415341 in 177
Maine#45421 in 157
Oregon#47321 in 186
New Hampshire#48221 in 157
Wyoming#48101 in 165
Nebraska#53521 in 228
California#561471 in 251
Michigan#561861 in 220
Iowa#60861 in 244
Washington#64401 in 245
Massachusetts#651271 in 278
New York#713681 in 272
Arizona#76141 in 278
Illinois#801781 in 338
North Dakota#83231 in 268
New Jersey#85881 in 354
Connecticut#87321 in 382
South Dakota#89191 in 313
Rhode Island#104141 in 407
Minnesota#117381 in 575
Wisconsin#129321 in 756
New Mexico#13291 in 486
Alaska———
Nevada———

Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the girls born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.

See more about Thelma
Momentum · girls
Holding steady
  • 367 spots since 2024 (#4,294 → #4,661)
  • 96 spots since 2020 (#4,757 → #4,661)
  • 320 spots since 2015 (#4,981 → #4,661)
  • Biggest jump: 274 spots in 1888 (#937 → #663)
  • Biggest drop: 280 spots in 1887 (#657 → #937)
Rise & fade · girls
30 yrs to peak
  • Debuted 1880
  • Peaked 1910 at #25 (2,976 births)
  • Births halved by 1950, 40 yrs later
Top of the charts · girls
Top 100 for 42 yrs
  • Top 10: never
  • Top 100: 42 yrs · run 1898–1939
  • Top 1,000: 100 yrs · run 1886–1982
Share of babies · girls
1 in 132
  • Highest: 1 in 132 girls born in 1911 were named Thelma (0.76%)
  • Latest: 1 in 55,423 girls born in 2025 (0.00%)
  • Its best rank, #25 in 1910, was only 1 in 133 (0.75%) — a smaller share of a much bigger birth year
Era · girls
The 1920s
  • 30.5% of all girls named Thelma (68,767) were born in this decade
Show by decade
DecadeBirthsBest rankAvg rank
1880s76#516 (1889)#754
1890s2,385#78 (1899)#296
1900s18,265#26 (1909)#41
1910s57,011#25 (1910)#28
1920s68,767#30 (1921)#35
1930s36,254#45 (1930)#67
1940s20,229#101 (1940)#136
1950s11,776#187 (1950)#245
1960s5,894#326 (1960)#405
1970s2,158#606 (1971)#724
1980s1,170#964 (1981)#1,228
1990s687#1,617 (1990)#2,137
2000s379#2,600 (2001)#3,947
2010s239#4,423 (2016)#5,641
2020s170#4,294 (2024)#4,743

All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 girls in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.

Thelma in 1925

girls
#35
6,823 births · 1 in 178 girls
boys
#1,091
41 births · 1 in 27,218 boys

Top girls' names in 1925

  1. #1Mary70,586
  2. #2Dorothy38,570
  3. #3Betty32,812
  4. #4Helen29,173
  5. #5Margaret24,463
  6. #6Ruth22,247
  7. #7Virginia17,490
  8. #8Doris16,075
  9. #9Mildred14,453
  10. #10Elizabeth13,936
  11. #35Thelma6,823

Top boys' names in 1925

  1. #1Robert60,895
  2. #2John57,195
  3. #3William53,310
  4. #4James52,680
  5. #5Charles29,580
  6. #6George26,560
  7. #7Joseph24,613
  8. #8Richard23,269
  9. #9Edward20,090
  10. #10Donald19,193
  11. #1,091Thelma41
More about 1925

girls

1,217,384 girls got a published name in 1925; 1 in 178 of them was named Thelma, which outranked 99.4% of the 5,771 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 23.0% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).

Ranked beside Thelma
  1. #32Annie7,350
  2. #33Gladys7,231
  3. #34Norma6,941
  4. #35Thelma6,823
  5. #36Josephine6,810
  6. #37Edna6,781
  7. #38Pauline6,728
Biggest movers since 1924
Risers
  1. ↑ 605Nanette#1,475 → #870
  2. ↑ 417Paulina#1,258 → #841
  3. ↑ 353Estela#1,258 → #905
  4. ↑ 323Delois#1,123 → #800
  5. ↑ 313Veola#1,301 → #988
Fallers
  1. ↓ 610Kathlyn#999 → #1,609
  2. ↓ 396Izetta#951 → #1,347
  3. ↓ 355Loma#941 → #1,296
  4. ↓ 345Phylis#880 → #1,225
  5. ↓ 309Eris#728 → #1,037

Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.

boys

1,115,919 boys got a published name in 1925; 1 in 27,218 of them was named Thelma, which outranked 77.6% of the 4,867 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 32.9% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).

Ranked beside Thelma
  1. #1,073Newman42
  2. #1,073Raoul42
  3. #1,073Takashi42
  4. #1,091Thelma41
  5. #1,091Boris41
  6. #1,091Denton41
  7. #1,091Donato41
  8. #1,108Adolf40
  9. #1,108Almon40
  10. #1,108Alonza40

Tied with 16 names at #1,091; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.

Biggest movers since 1924
Risers
  1. ↑ 548Okey#1,532 → #984
  2. ↑ 494Eddy#1,492 → #998
  3. ↑ 422Terrence#1,223 → #801
  4. ↑ 371Hughie#1,355 → #984
  5. ↑ 363Rexford#1,287 → #924
Fallers
  1. ↓ 444Baxter#916 → #1,360
  2. ↓ 429Adelbert#817 → #1,246
  3. ↓ 407Jonnie#925 → #1,332
  4. ↓ 406Faustino#984 → #1,390
  5. ↓ 387Deward#859 → #1,246

Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.

See the top 100 for 1925 →