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Delma

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Short form of Adelma

Delma has been given to 9,901 babies in the U.S. since 1884. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1926, with 205 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 85% girls, 15% boys all-time.

Babies named Delma, 2023

1 in 663,000

Delma over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Delma over time

In 2023, Delma went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18842023

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Delma: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Adelma

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Delma means

Delma is a short form of Adelma.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Delma is used in English.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɛl.mə/ for Delma.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Adelma and Fidelma.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,454 girls were recorded with the name Delma between 1884 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 205 in 1926; its best national rank was #448 in 1907.

In the United States, 1,447 boys were recorded with the name Delma between 1905 and 1982. Its highest annual count was 45 in 1922; its best national rank was #983 in 1935.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Delma?

Delma had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2023, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2023
1 in 663,000
5 of 3,314,783 births
Among girls only
1 in 321,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2023
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
459,528 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Delma sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2023 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 459,528 children born in 2023 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Delma. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Delmas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Delma was born before 1934 — so the typical Delma is around 91 today.

Median birth year
1934
About 91 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
20.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
0.79%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
2,477
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 20.6% of all recorded uses (1,745).

Is Delma rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1926 (205)
Years since peak
99
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
36.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#448
1907

Spellings of Delma

Delma is not the most common spelling — Emma is, with 23.7% against Delma's 0.26%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Delma is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Delma was most concentrated in West Virginia — about 1 in 5,263 girls, against 1 in 31,752 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

019 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1West Virginia1 in 5,263
  2. 2Texas1 in 7,692
  3. 3Kentucky1 in 10,000
  4. 4Oklahoma1 in 11,111
  5. 5Arkansas1 in 12,500
  6. 6Virginia1 in 14,286
  7. 7Kansas1 in 16,667
  8. 8Missouri1 in 16,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Delma has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Delma is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Delma was most concentrated in North Carolina — about 1 in 33,333 boys, against 1 in 107,108 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

03 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1North Carolina1 in 33,333
  2. 2Georgia1 in 50,000
  3. 3Mississippi1 in 100,000
  4. 4Tennessee1 in 100,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 100,000
  6. 6Arkansas1 in —
  7. 7Florida1 in —
  8. 8Louisiana1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Delma has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Delma around the world

Where Delma ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • South Australia
    1945–1960
    #617
    in 1960

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Delma

People whose public names include Delma, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Delma in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Delma. Linked forms have their own page here.

ElmaAdelmaIdelmaFidelma

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Delma by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#448
1907
Peak year
1926
205 that year
First recorded
1884
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
8,454
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#983
1935
Peak year
1922
45 that year
First recorded
1905
Last recorded
1982
All-time count
1,447
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Delma

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

DeltaSalmaDelanaDeliaDelilaVilmaZelmaDelanieDeloisDelenaPalmaDellaDelaniDelphiaDelinaDelfinaSelmaDelphineDelmyDelanyDelcieDeliahDeliciaDelaine

Names with a curve like Delma

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Delma, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

GermaineVerniceRethaGeorgeRowenaMargretEnidLorineLavonLaurettaDelphineAlva

Sibling names for Delma

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Delma

Top names of 1926, Delma's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1907Girls' names starting with D