Girls' name · peaked in 1911
Thelma name popularity since 1925
110,735 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Thelma (99.4% girls, 0.6% boys). Half of them were born in 1935 or earlier, so the typical Thelma is about 91 years old in 2026. Thelma peaked in 1911 as the #27 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 110,735
- Named Thelma, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1911
- #27 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,745 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.4% girls
- 110,121 girls · 614 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 3.35× its national share
Peak year is the year Thelma 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.
Thelma births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Thelma peaked earlier, in 1911.
- Steepest fall: Between 1965 and 1970, Thelma's share of baby girls fell by 52%, from 1 in 3,050 to 1 in 6,380.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Thelma's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Thelma.
Decade by decade
Babies named Thelma 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 | 31,165 | 169 | – |
| 1930s | 36,254 | 276 | #76 |
| 1940s | 20,229 | 104 | #131 |
| 1950s | 11,776 | 36 | #246 |
| 1960s | 5,894 | 29 | #380 |
| 1970s | 2,158 | 0 | #737 |
| 1980s | 1,170 | 0 | #1,322 |
| 1990s | 687 | 0 | #1,817 |
| 2000s | 379 | 0 | #3,579 |
| 2010s | 239 | 0 | #5,114 |
| 2020–25 | 170 | 0 | #4,745 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
55.3% of babies named Thelma from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Thelma is most popular
The index compares Thelma'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 Thelma.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 3.35× | 3,202 |
| Mississippi | 3.07× | 4,037 |
| South Carolina | 2.95× | 4,487 |
| Kentucky | 2.89× | 5,261 |
| Arkansas | 2.72× | 3,040 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Thelma's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Thelma.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Thelma (1911).
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