Girls' name · peaked in 1906
Erma name popularity since 1925
30,790 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Erma. Half of them were born in 1938 or earlier, so the typical Erma is about 88 years old in 2026. Erma peaked in 1906 as the #139 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 30,790
- Named Erma, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1906
- #139 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #5,292 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 30,660 girls · 130 boys
- Most popular in
- Arkansas
- 7.05× its national share
Peak year is the year Erma 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.
Erma births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Erma peaked earlier, in 1906.
- Steepest fall: Between 1964 and 1969, Erma's share of baby girls fell by 45%, from 1 in 8,610 to 1 in 15,800.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Erma's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Erma.
Decade by decade
Babies named Erma 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 | 6,982 | 21 | – |
| 1930s | 9,701 | 77 | #189 |
| 1940s | 6,555 | 27 | #283 |
| 1950s | 3,916 | 5 | #481 |
| 1960s | 1,719 | 0 | #807 |
| 1970s | 639 | 0 | #1,488 |
| 1980s | 385 | 0 | #2,611 |
| 1990s | 235 | 0 | #5,081 |
| 2000s | 225 | 0 | #6,085 |
| 2010s | 179 | 0 | #5,344 |
| 2020–25 | 124 | 0 | #5,292 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
53.9% of babies named Erma from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Erma is most popular
The index compares Erma'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 Erma.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 7.05× | 2,062 |
| Mississippi | 4.25× | 1,465 |
| West Virginia | 3.71× | 928 |
| Oklahoma | 3.31× | 1,227 |
| Missouri | 2.16× | 1,342 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Erma's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Erma.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Erma (1906).
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