Meaning not yet researched.
Zelma: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 16 in 2025. Its best rank was #216 in 1902.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #216 in 1902; #7,128 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Zelma in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#7,128 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1902, at #216.
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.
Zelma: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 16 girls in 2025. Peak: #216 in 1902 · most girls in one year: 488 (1919).
In 2025, 16 US girls were named Zelma, making it the 7,128th most common girls’ name of the year, down 206 places from #6,922 in 2024. That is 1 fewer than the 17 girls named Zelma in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #216, reached in 1902. The most girls given the name in a single year was 488, in 1919. For comparison, it was #8,926 in 2015 and #793 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Zelma in 139 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 19 babies. In all, 16,936 US babies have been given the name, 99% of them girls and 0.7% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 4,149 babies named Zelma.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 131 US girls were named Zelma; the busiest of those years was 2024, with 17. In 2025 that was about 1 in 100,454 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Selma (27,202 babies since 1880) and Salome (5,624 babies since 1880).
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 Hungarian and Latvian. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0).
No nicknames listed for Zelma 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 | 16 | #7,128 | — | — |
| 2024 | 17 | #6,922 | — | — |
| 2023 | 14 | #8,052 | — | — |
| 2022 | 12 | #9,052 | — | — |
| 2021 | 12 | #8,969 | — | — |
| 2020 | 10 | #10,237 | — | — |
| 2019 | 14 | #8,132 | — | — |
| 2018 | 16 | #7,405 | — | — |
| 2017 | 7 | #14,104 | — | — |
| 2016 | 13 | #8,865 | — | — |
| 2015 | 13 | #8,926 | — | — |
| 2014 | 6 | #16,482 | — | — |
| 2013 | 5 | #19,242 | — | — |
| 2012 | 5 | #19,498 | — | — |
| 2011 | 5 | #19,553 | — | — |
| 2010 | 8 | #13,434 | — | — |
| 2009 | 5 | #20,161 | — | — |
| 2008 | 8 | #13,813 | — | — |
| 2007 | 5 | #20,544 | — | — |
| 2006 | 8 | #13,584 | — | — |
| 2005 | 8 | #12,999 | — | — |
| 2002 | 5 | #18,069 | — | — |
| 2000 | 6 | #15,019 | — | — |
| 1999 | 7 | #12,679 | — | — |
| 1998 | 7 | #12,417 | — | — |
| 1997 | 5 | #16,141 | — | — |
| 1996 | 8 | #10,563 | — | — |
| 1994 | 10 | #8,798 | — | — |
| 1992 | 8 | #10,473 | — | — |
| 1991 | 6 | #13,142 | — | — |
| 1989 | 7 | #10,841 | — | — |
| 1988 | 7 | #10,382 | — | — |
| 1987 | 6 | #11,320 | — | — |
| 1986 | 9 | #7,747 | — | — |
| 1985 | 10 | #6,954 | — | — |
| 1983 | 10 | #6,704 | — | — |
| 1982 | 8 | #8,223 | — | — |
| 1981 | 14 | #5,253 | — | — |
| 1980 | 7 | #9,093 | — | — |
| 1979 | 14 | #5,091 | — | — |
| 1978 | 10 | #6,383 | — | — |
| 1977 | 8 | #7,562 | — | — |
| 1976 | 12 | #5,210 | — | — |
| 1975 | 18 | #3,773 | — | — |
| 1974 | 15 | #4,226 | — | — |
| 1973 | 27 | #2,688 | — | — |
| 1972 | 17 | #3,713 | — | — |
| 1971 | 24 | #2,954 | — | — |
| 1970 | 18 | #3,576 | — | — |
| 1969 | 20 | #3,101 | — | — |
| 1968 | 28 | #2,359 | — | — |
| 1967 | 25 | #2,491 | — | — |
| 1966 | 43 | #1,735 | — | — |
| 1965 | 42 | #1,767 | — | — |
| 1964 | 44 | #1,780 | — | — |
| 1963 | 41 | #1,838 | — | — |
| 1962 | 57 | #1,495 | — | — |
| 1961 | 65 | #1,397 | — | — |
| 1960 | 62 | #1,404 | — | — |
| 1959 | 81 | #1,191 | — | — |
| 1958 | 83 | #1,172 | — | — |
| 1957 | 77 | #1,210 | — | — |
| 1956 | 96 | #1,050 | — | — |
| 1955 | 104 | #983 | — | — |
| 1954 | 120 | #877 | — | — |
| 1953 | 106 | #920 | — | — |
| 1952 | 96 | #965 | — | — |
| 1951 | 103 | #901 | — | — |
| 1950 | 120 | #793 | — | — |
| 1949 | 150 | #689 | — | — |
| 1948 | 115 | #809 | — | — |
| 1947 | 146 | #703 | — | — |
| 1946 | 143 | #670 | — | — |
| 1945 | 168 | #569 | — | — |
| 1944 | 151 | #598 | 6 | #3,429 |
| 1943 | 178 | #569 | — | — |
| 1942 | 181 | #553 | — | — |
| 1941 | 148 | #577 | — | — |
| 1940 | 190 | #501 | — | — |
| 1939 | 180 | #498 | 5 | #3,967 |
| 1938 | 194 | #477 | — | — |
| 1937 | 191 | #476 | 5 | #4,020 |
| 1936 | 185 | #471 | — | — |
| 1935 | 237 | #423 | — | — |
| 1934 | 272 | #393 | 8 | #2,972 |
| 1933 | 230 | #423 | — | — |
| 1932 | 303 | #368 | — | — |
| 1931 | 284 | #387 | — | — |
| 1930 | 370 | #338 | 5 | #4,541 |
| 1929 | 347 | #351 | — | — |
| 1928 | 371 | #353 | 6 | #4,149 |
| 1927 | 382 | #340 | — | — |
| 1926 | 356 | #354 | 6 | #4,198 |
| 1925 | 431 | #322 | — | — |
| 1924 | 417 | #330 | 5 | #4,968 |
| 1923 | 447 | #306 | — | — |
| 1922 | 467 | #296 | 9 | #3,250 |
| 1921 | 445 | #310 | 12 | #2,631 |
| 1920 | 448 | #308 | — | — |
| 1919 | 488 | #287 | 6 | #4,165 |
| 1918 | 471 | #294 | 8 | #3,366 |
| 1917 | 477 | #283 | 10 | #2,729 |
| 1916 | 466 | #276 | 5 | #4,531 |
| 1915 | 487 | #266 | 5 | #4,388 |
| 1914 | 373 | #271 | — | — |
| 1913 | 342 | #252 | — | — |
| 1912 | 307 | #255 | — | — |
| 1911 | 268 | #240 | — | — |
| 1910 | 220 | #259 | — | — |
| 1909 | 240 | #233 | — | — |
| 1908 | 199 | #243 | — | — |
| 1907 | 212 | #227 | — | — |
| 1906 | 188 | #233 | — | — |
| 1905 | 161 | #259 | — | — |
| 1904 | 198 | #218 | — | — |
| 1903 | 176 | #225 | 6 | #1,129 |
| 1902 | 189 | #216 | — | — |
| 1901 | 127 | #256 | — | — |
| 1900 | 131 | #287 | — | — |
| 1899 | 120 | #261 | — | — |
| 1898 | 104 | #309 | — | — |
| 1897 | 104 | #277 | — | — |
| 1896 | 82 | #323 | — | — |
| 1895 | 80 | #322 | — | — |
| 1894 | 77 | #321 | — | — |
| 1893 | 57 | #359 | — | — |
| 1892 | 56 | #357 | — | — |
| 1891 | 63 | #319 | — | — |
| 1890 | 52 | #357 | — | — |
| 1889 | 43 | #370 | — | — |
| 1888 | 37 | #412 | 5 | #1,177 |
| 1887 | 27 | #434 | — | — |
| 1886 | 32 | #386 | — | — |
| 1885 | 18 | #519 | — | — |
| 1884 | 29 | #376 | — | — |
| 1883 | 16 | #498 | — | — |
| 1882 | 21 | #405 | — | — |
| 1881 | 17 | #417 | — | — |
| 1880 | 19 | #387 | — | — |
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).