Girls' name · peaked in 1894
Alma name popularity since 1925
91,415 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Alma (98.5% girls, 1.5% boys). Half of them were born in 1950 or earlier, so the typical Alma is about 76 years old in 2026. Alma peaked in 1894 as the #52 name for girls, and it ranked #449 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 91,415
- Named Alma, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1894
- #52 for girls that year
- In 2025
- #449
- for girls in 2025 (689 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 98.5% girls
- 90,026 girls · 1,389 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 2.29× its national share
Peak year is the year Alma made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Alma births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Alma peaked earlier, in 1894.
- Steepest fall: Between 1942 and 1947, Alma's share of baby girls fell by 36%, from 1 in 960 to 1 in 1,500.
- Fastest rise: Between 2016 and 2021, it became 1.7× more common, from 1 in 4,520 baby girls to 1 in 2,680.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Alma's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Alma.
Decade by decade
Babies named Alma in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 13,718 | 159 | – |
| 1930s | 18,251 | 280 | #132 |
| 1940s | 12,401 | 150 | #188 |
| 1950s | 9,637 | 120 | #277 |
| 1960s | 6,382 | 99 | #397 |
| 1970s | 5,592 | 136 | #391 |
| 1980s | 5,688 | 162 | #409 |
| 1990s | 6,030 | 128 | #440 |
| 2000s | 4,553 | 69 | #591 |
| 2010s | 3,965 | 53 | #684 |
| 2020–25 | 3,809 | 33 | #449 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
34.4% of babies named Alma from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Alma is most popular
The index compares Alma's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Alma.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 2.29× | 2,420 |
| Arkansas | 2.28× | 2,047 |
| Kentucky | 2.25× | 3,288 |
| Texas | 1.96× | 13,428 |
| West Virginia | 1.96× | 1,504 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Alma's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Alma.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Alma (1894).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data