Thelma

Primarily a girl's name · 99% girls

Meaning

Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel Thelma. Although the character was supposed to be Norwegian, it is not a traditional Scandinavian name.

From Wikipedia

Thelma first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 142 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1921 with 7,839 babies (rank #30 that year). In 2024 it was given to 32 girls (rank #4,446). Its popularity has been fairly steady recently.

Numerology of Thelma

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Thelma yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

5Destiny numberThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
6Soul urgeThe carerNurturing, responsible, family at the centre.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
8PersonalityThe achieverDriven, capable, comfortable wielding influence.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

226,571

Total babies (all years)

142

Years in the data

7,839

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Thelma

Thelma Ritterfilm actor · b. 1902
Thelma Schoonmakertelevision actor · b. 1940
Thelma Toddfilm actor · b. 1906

Share your Thelma story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Names ranked near Thelma in 2024

Other girls' names starting with T

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	5	#936
1883	6	#915
1884	7	#920
1886	12	#688
1887	7	#1,026
1888	15	#685
1889	24	#531
1890	22	#568
1891	25	#522
1892	33	#478
1893	42	#421
1894	70	#335
1895	173	#205
1896	260	#168
1897	419	#117
1898	605	#99
1899	736	#78
1900	1,094	#73
1901	1,090	#57
1902	1,309	#52
1903	1,479	#47
1904	1,757	#37
1905	1,945	#36
1906	2,114	#31
1907	2,339	#28
1908	2,526	#26
1909	2,612	#26
1910	2,976	#25
1911	3,166	#27
1912	4,183	#26
1913	4,595	#26
1914	5,496	#26
1915	6,762	#30
1916	7,290	#29
1917	7,245	#32
1918	7,740	#32
1919	7,558	#31
1920	7,814	#31
1921	7,839	#30
1922	7,254	#31
1923	7,379	#31
1924	7,316	#33
1925	6,823	#35
1926	6,584	#36
1927	6,304	#38
1928	5,978	#40
1929	5,476	#41
1930	5,250	#45
1931	4,440	#53
1932	4,272	#51
1933	3,636	#57
1934	3,646	#65
1935	3,189	#76
1936	3,197	#74
1937	3,062	#78
1938	2,866	#86
1939	2,696	#88
1940	2,461	#101
1941	2,367	#108
1942	2,257	#121
1943	2,210	#127
1944	1,997	#131
1945	1,853	#131
1946	1,794	#150
1947	1,902	#153
1948	1,763	#163
1949	1,625	#172
1950	1,458	#187
1951	1,528	#189
1952	1,358	#209
1953	1,295	#223
1954	1,241	#228
1955	1,105	#246
1956	1,078	#254
1957	967	#291
1958	847	#316
1959	898	#305
1960	836	#326
1961	772	#339
1962	752	#345
1963	721	#353
1964	654	#372
1965	579	#380
1966	475	#426
1967	388	#482
1968	400	#480
1969	318	#554
1970	274	#623
1971	281	#607
1972	225	#666
1973	219	#686
1974	238	#644
1975	198	#737
1976	193	#753
1977	195	#778
1978	171	#864
1979	164	#910
1980	148	#994
1981	152	#970
1982	152	#979
1983	119	#1,131
1984	122	#1,132
1985	101	#1,322
1986	105	#1,292
1987	92	#1,432
1988	84	#1,578
1989	95	#1,521
1990	92	#1,632
1991	86	#1,709
1992	89	#1,701
1993	72	#1,964
1994	70	#2,023
1995	79	#1,817
1996	48	#2,627
1997	41	#2,973
1998	62	#2,303
1999	48	#2,849
2000	50	#2,901
2001	58	#2,632
2002	31	#4,173
2003	40	#3,583
2004	31	#4,486
2005	42	#3,579
2006	34	#4,354
2007	28	#5,218
2008	30	#4,999
2009	35	#4,360
2010	20	#6,608
2011	14	#8,583
2012	27	#5,241
2013	19	#6,704
2014	25	#5,441
2015	27	#5,114
2016	32	#4,523
2017	26	#5,176
2018	27	#4,995
2019	22	#5,777
2020	27	#4,867
2021	31	#4,498
2022	26	#5,158
2023	23	#5,534
2024	32	#4,446