Meaning not yet researched.
Thelma: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 29 in 2025. Its best rank was #25 in 1910.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #25 in 1910; #4,745 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Thelma in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#4,745 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1910, at #25.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Thelma: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 29 girls in 2025. Peak: #25 in 1910 · most girls in one year: 7,839 (1921).
In 2025, 29 US girls were named Thelma, making it the 4,745th most common girls’ name of the year, down 369 places from #4,376 in 2024. That is 4 fewer than the 33 girls named Thelma in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #25, reached in 1910. The most girls given the name in a single year was 7,839, in 1921. For comparison, it was #5,114 in 2015 and #187 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Thelma in 143 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 5 babies. In all, 226,602 US babies have been given the name, 99% of them girls and 0.5% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 69,101 babies named Thelma.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 277 US girls were named Thelma; the busiest of those years was 2024, with 33. In 2025 that was about 1 in 55,423 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Rarer spellings such as Telma are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
No related spellings pass our data threshold.
Rare spellings summarised here: Telma (276).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0).
No nicknames listed for Thelma in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29 | #4,745 | — | — |
| 2024 | 33 | #4,376 | — | — |
| 2023 | 23 | #5,536 | — | — |
| 2022 | 26 | #5,162 | — | — |
| 2021 | 32 | #4,403 | — | — |
| 2020 | 27 | #4,867 | — | — |
| 2019 | 22 | #5,781 | — | — |
| 2018 | 27 | #4,997 | — | — |
| 2017 | 26 | #5,177 | — | — |
| 2016 | 32 | #4,523 | — | — |
| 2015 | 27 | #5,114 | — | — |
| 2014 | 25 | #5,441 | — | — |
| 2013 | 19 | #6,705 | — | — |
| 2012 | 27 | #5,242 | — | — |
| 2011 | 14 | #8,584 | — | — |
| 2010 | 20 | #6,609 | — | — |
| 2009 | 35 | #4,361 | — | — |
| 2008 | 30 | #4,999 | — | — |
| 2007 | 28 | #5,218 | — | — |
| 2006 | 34 | #4,355 | — | — |
| 2005 | 42 | #3,579 | — | — |
| 2004 | 31 | #4,486 | — | — |
| 2003 | 40 | #3,584 | — | — |
| 2002 | 31 | #4,173 | — | — |
| 2001 | 58 | #2,632 | — | — |
| 2000 | 50 | #2,901 | — | — |
| 1999 | 48 | #2,850 | — | — |
| 1998 | 62 | #2,304 | — | — |
| 1997 | 41 | #2,973 | — | — |
| 1996 | 48 | #2,627 | — | — |
| 1995 | 79 | #1,817 | — | — |
| 1994 | 70 | #2,024 | — | — |
| 1993 | 72 | #1,965 | — | — |
| 1992 | 89 | #1,701 | — | — |
| 1991 | 86 | #1,709 | — | — |
| 1990 | 92 | #1,632 | — | — |
| 1989 | 95 | #1,521 | — | — |
| 1988 | 84 | #1,578 | — | — |
| 1987 | 92 | #1,432 | — | — |
| 1986 | 105 | #1,292 | — | — |
| 1985 | 101 | #1,322 | — | — |
| 1984 | 122 | #1,132 | — | — |
| 1983 | 119 | #1,131 | — | — |
| 1982 | 152 | #979 | — | — |
| 1981 | 152 | #970 | — | — |
| 1980 | 148 | #994 | — | — |
| 1979 | 164 | #910 | — | — |
| 1978 | 171 | #864 | — | — |
| 1977 | 195 | #778 | — | — |
| 1976 | 193 | #752 | — | — |
| 1975 | 198 | #737 | — | — |
| 1974 | 238 | #643 | — | — |
| 1973 | 219 | #686 | — | — |
| 1972 | 225 | #666 | — | — |
| 1971 | 281 | #607 | — | — |
| 1970 | 274 | #623 | — | — |
| 1969 | 318 | #554 | 5 | #4,963 |
| 1968 | 400 | #480 | — | — |
| 1967 | 388 | #482 | — | — |
| 1966 | 475 | #426 | — | — |
| 1965 | 579 | #380 | — | — |
| 1964 | 655 | #371 | — | — |
| 1963 | 720 | #353 | 7 | #3,621 |
| 1962 | 752 | #345 | 5 | #4,578 |
| 1961 | 772 | #339 | 5 | #4,604 |
| 1960 | 835 | #326 | 7 | #3,631 |
| 1959 | 899 | #305 | — | — |
| 1958 | 847 | #316 | 6 | #3,904 |
| 1957 | 967 | #291 | — | — |
| 1956 | 1,078 | #254 | — | — |
| 1955 | 1,105 | #246 | 11 | #2,540 |
| 1954 | 1,241 | #228 | 8 | #3,147 |
| 1953 | 1,295 | #223 | 5 | #4,286 |
| 1952 | 1,358 | #209 | 6 | #3,694 |
| 1951 | 1,528 | #189 | — | — |
| 1950 | 1,458 | #187 | — | — |
| 1949 | 1,625 | #172 | 9 | #2,785 |
| 1948 | 1,763 | #163 | 10 | #2,601 |
| 1947 | 1,902 | #153 | 12 | #2,348 |
| 1946 | 1,794 | #150 | 8 | #2,900 |
| 1945 | 1,853 | #131 | 5 | #3,731 |
| 1944 | 1,997 | #131 | 14 | #1,975 |
| 1943 | 2,210 | #127 | 12 | #2,271 |
| 1942 | 2,257 | #121 | 13 | #2,138 |
| 1941 | 2,367 | #108 | 10 | #2,475 |
| 1940 | 2,461 | #101 | 11 | #2,307 |
| 1939 | 2,696 | #88 | 24 | #1,387 |
| 1938 | 2,866 | #86 | 16 | #1,808 |
| 1937 | 3,062 | #78 | 19 | #1,625 |
| 1936 | 3,196 | #74 | 32 | #1,179 |
| 1935 | 3,190 | #76 | 32 | #1,191 |
| 1934 | 3,646 | #65 | 30 | #1,239 |
| 1933 | 3,636 | #57 | 25 | #1,359 |
| 1932 | 4,272 | #51 | 27 | #1,354 |
| 1931 | 4,440 | #53 | 37 | #1,127 |
| 1930 | 5,250 | #45 | 34 | #1,231 |
| 1929 | 5,476 | #41 | 32 | #1,267 |
| 1928 | 5,978 | #40 | 33 | #1,270 |
| 1927 | 6,303 | #38 | 27 | #1,463 |
| 1926 | 6,585 | #36 | 36 | #1,217 |
| 1925 | 6,823 | #35 | 41 | #1,106 |
| 1924 | 7,316 | #33 | 45 | #1,069 |
| 1923 | 7,379 | #31 | 29 | #1,382 |
| 1922 | 7,254 | #31 | 27 | #1,465 |
| 1921 | 7,839 | #30 | 32 | #1,325 |
| 1920 | 7,814 | #31 | 32 | #1,297 |
| 1919 | 7,558 | #31 | 42 | #1,062 |
| 1918 | 7,740 | #32 | 44 | #1,029 |
| 1917 | 7,245 | #32 | 28 | #1,317 |
| 1916 | 7,290 | #29 | 30 | #1,237 |
| 1915 | 6,762 | #30 | 28 | #1,260 |
| 1914 | 5,496 | #26 | 23 | #1,255 |
| 1913 | 4,595 | #26 | 29 | #929 |
| 1912 | 4,183 | #26 | 20 | #1,054 |
| 1911 | 3,166 | #27 | 12 | #1,032 |
| 1910 | 2,976 | #25 | 17 | #751 |
| 1909 | 2,612 | #26 | 12 | #888 |
| 1908 | 2,526 | #26 | 8 | #1,103 |
| 1907 | 2,339 | #28 | 13 | #771 |
| 1906 | 2,114 | #31 | 12 | #750 |
| 1905 | 1,945 | #36 | 10 | #833 |
| 1904 | 1,757 | #37 | 9 | #869 |
| 1903 | 1,479 | #47 | 9 | #839 |
| 1902 | 1,309 | #52 | 6 | #1,129 |
| 1901 | 1,090 | #57 | — | — |
| 1900 | 1,094 | #73 | — | — |
| 1899 | 736 | #78 | — | — |
| 1898 | 605 | #99 | — | — |
| 1897 | 419 | #117 | 6 | #1,049 |
| 1896 | 260 | #168 | 5 | #1,256 |
| 1895 | 173 | #205 | — | — |
| 1894 | 70 | #335 | — | — |
| 1893 | 42 | #421 | — | — |
| 1892 | 33 | #478 | — | — |
| 1891 | 25 | #522 | — | — |
| 1890 | 22 | #568 | — | — |
| 1889 | 24 | #531 | — | — |
| 1888 | 15 | #685 | — | — |
| 1887 | 7 | #1,026 | — | — |
| 1886 | 12 | #688 | — | — |
| 1884 | 7 | #920 | — | — |
| 1883 | 6 | #915 | — | — |
| 1880 | 5 | #936 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).