Gilma

Girls' name

Meaning uncertain in the cited reference

Gilma has been given to 228 babies in the U.S. since 1899. 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 1989, with 14 recorded.

Babies named Gilma, 2002

1 in 534,000

Gilma over time, 1880–2025

Girls

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Gilma: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning uncertain in the cited reference

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Gilma means

Gilma is a given name.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Gilma is used in Spanish (Latin American) and Portuguese (Brazilian).

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 228 girls were recorded with the name Gilma between 1899 and 2002. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1989; its best national rank was #1,217 in 1899.

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.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Gilma?

Gilma had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2002, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2002: 1 in 534,000; 7 of 3,737,275 births
Among girls only: 1 in 257,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2002: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 370,070 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Gilma 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 2002 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 370,070 children born in 2002 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Gilma. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Gilmas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Gilma was born before 1939 — so the typical Gilma is around 86 today.

Median birth year: 1939; About 86 years old
Biggest decade: 1910s; 18.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 38.6%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 112; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1910s — 18.4% of all recorded uses (42).

Is Gilma 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 1989 (14)
Years since peak: 36; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 35.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,217; 1899

Spellings of Gilma

Gilma is not the most common spelling — Alma is, with 13.7% against Gilma's 0.02%.

Alma13.7%163,723
Gina12.8%153,057
Wilma11.7%140,101
Velma7.3%86,752
Mila7.1%84,489
Hilda6.8%81,022
Lila6.4%76,493
Irma6.2%73,769

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 Gilma is used

Across 1910–2025, Gilma was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 2,572,154 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1California1 in —
2Texas1 in —

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. Gilma has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Gilma 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: #1,217; 1899
Peak year: 1989; 14 that year
First recorded: 1899
Last recorded: 2002
All-time count: 228
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Gilma

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

Telma Gila Gillie Talma Ilma Welma Valma Sulma Felma Zulma Dalma Gili Wylma Gill Zalma Helma Belma Gilberte Gilbert Giliana Gilana Adelma Palma Bilma

Sibling names for Gilma

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

For a sister

Stephani Ashli Felisha Jalisa Britany Chantelle Leandra Lissette

For a brother

Elizabeth Kelsey Lauren Hakeem Demario Jerrell Arron Laron

Explore around Gilma

Top names of 1989, Gilma's peak year The 1980s in full Other names that peaked in 1899 Girls' names starting with G