girl's name
Alma
AL-ma
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 184,215
the United States
#450
2025 births
Alma is a girl's name with several competing origins: "nourishing" in Latin, "soul" in Spanish, and "young woman" in Hebrew. It ranks fourth in France and is reviving in the United States, where it peaked in 1918.
- Alma is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1918, when 3,702 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 4,763 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Alma over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,287 |
| 1890s | 11,295 |
| 1900s | 13,204 |
| 1910s | 27,859 |
| 1920s | 30,759 |
| 1930s | 18,531 |
| 1940s | 12,551 |
| 1950s | 9,757 |
| 1960s | 6,481 |
| 1970s | 5,728 |
| 1980s | 5,850 |
| 1990s | 6,158 |
| 2000s | 4,622 |
| 2010s | 4,018 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,842 |
What Alma means
Alma means nourishing, from the Latin almus. In Spanish and Portuguese the identical word means soul, and in Hebrew almah means a young woman, so the name carries three unrelated senses depending on which language a family is reading it in.
Where Alma comes from
Alma's oldest strand is the Latin almus, nourishing or kindly, familiar from alma mater, the nourishing mother. A separate line runs through Spanish and Portuguese, where alma is the ordinary word for soul, descending from the Latin anima. A third connects it to the Hebrew almah, a young woman of marriageable age, a word made famous by the long dispute over its translation in Isaiah. The name's sudden nineteenth-century popularity in Britain owes nothing to any of these: it followed the Battle of the Alma in 1854, an early Crimean War victory, and the river in Ukraine that gave the battle its name.
Alma in use
Alma ranks fourth in France, with about 2,500 births in 2025, and our American series shows a completely different arc: a peak in 1918 and a return to 450 today after decades out of favor. It is also well used in England and Wales at 211. Few names in our data carry three distinct meanings from three unrelated languages, which is why reference sources disagree so freely about it.
How popular is Alma?
In 2025, Alma was given to 696 babies in the United States, ranking #450 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Alma is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Alma
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Alma also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Alma over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Alma in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Alma
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Alma — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Alma
What does the name Alma mean?
Most often "nourishing," from the Latin almus. In Spanish it means "soul," and in Hebrew almah means a young woman.
Why do sources disagree about Alma?
Three unrelated languages produced the same string: Latin almus, Spanish alma, and Hebrew almah. Each reference work picks a different one.
Is Alma named after a battle?
Its Victorian surge was. The Battle of the Alma in 1854 made the name fashionable in Britain, though the name itself predates it.
How popular is Alma?
Fourth in France, 211th in England and Wales, and reviving in the United States after peaking in 1918.
Is Alma a girl's or a boy's name?
Alma is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Alma?
Alma has 2 syllables.
Is Alma a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Alma currently ranks #4 in the United States. After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.