Prima

Girls' name

First

Prima has been given to 107 babies in the U.S. since 1949. 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 1975, with 14 recorded.

Babies named Prima, 2024

1 in 669,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Prima: meaning, origin, and history

First

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Prima means

Prima means “first”, associated with prīmus.

Origin, language, and formation

Prima is used in Latin.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Prīmus.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Latin, Prima is pronounced [ˈprɪ.ma].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 107 girls were recorded with the name Prima between 1949 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1975; its best national rank was #4,528 in 1975.

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 Prima?

Prima had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024: 1 in 669,000; 5 of 3,342,801 births
Among girls only: 1 in 324,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2024: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 463,412 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Prima 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 2024 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 463,412 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Prima. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Primas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Prima was born before 1978 — so the typical Prima is around 47 today.

Median birth year: 1978; About 47 years old
Biggest decade: 1970s; 51.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 21.5%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 101; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1970s — 51.4% of all recorded uses (55).

Is Prima 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 1975 (14)
Years since peak: 50; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Steady; 11.6% average annual change
Best rank ever: #4,528; 1975

Spellings of Prima

Prima is not the most common spelling — Rita is, with 27.6% against Prima's 0.01%.

Rita27.6%284,452
Erica22.5%231,613
Erika12.2%125,664
Aria9.3%95,674
Irma7.2%73,769
Erma5.3%54,949
Trina3.2%32,568
Bria1.6%16,815

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.

Prima 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: #4,528; 1975
Peak year: 1975; 14 that year
First recorded: 1949
Last recorded: 2024
All-time count: 107
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Prima

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

Price Aaima Zaima Prim Umaima Priyah Fotima Prisma Priti Nyima Priyal Prisca Primm Taima Shima Maxima Neima Lima Fahima Selima Rahima Aima Priyana Akima

Sibling names for Prima

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

Cary Karie Brandee Sunshine Kisha Ami Susannah Misti

For a brother

Giuseppe Abdul Demond Andrea Jamey Chadwick Torrey Federico

Explore around Prima

Top names of 1975, Prima's peak year The 1970s in full Other names that peaked in 1975 Girls' names starting with P