Elma

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Elma: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Elma: Recorded since 1971, it reached #224 in 2022, and it stood at #288 in 2025.

3registrars recorded it
65times a registrar ranked it
55years from first to last
#224highest recorded position
14groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1999–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1999	#3900
2000	#3247
2004	#3197
2006	#3548
2007	#3667
2008	#3397
2009	#2759
2010	#4012
2011	#3185
2012	#2969
2013	#3536
2014	#2314
2015	#3615
2016	#3609
2017	#2341
2018	#2187
2019	#2286
2020	#1773
2021	#2341
2022	#2488
2023	#1525
2024	#1406

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Norway in 26 of the 45 years from 1981 to 2025.

In 2024: #314 among girls in Norway, #1406 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1971–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1971
First recorded at #417 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1971 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1981–2025
Highest recorded position: #224 among girls in Norway, in 2022 (recorded 1981–2025).
Norway · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #288 among girls in Norway, in 2025.
Norway · Girls

Elma appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Girls, with 26 ranked years and 204 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1971.

Elma across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Elma's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Girls	#478 (1981)	#224 (2022)	#288 (2025)	26 of 45	204 (1981–2025)	18 (2022)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#417 (1971)	#347 (1983)	#862 (2008)	17 of 38	74 (1971–2008)	8 (1983)
England and Wales · Girls	#3900 (1999)	#1406 (2024)	#1406 (2024)	22 of 26	199 (1999–2024)	23 (2024)

Elma by decade in Norway · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Elma in Norway · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1980s	25	5 of 10	5
1990s	6	1 of 10	6
2000s	26	5 of 10	5
2010s	81	9 of 10	9
2020sbusiest	66	6 of 10	11

Across Norway · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 11 births a year.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Elma appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1971 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #224 in Norway in 2022.

Elma's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#1406	23	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#1525	20	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2488	10	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#2341	11	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#1773	16	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#2286	11	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#2187	12	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#2341	11	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#3609	6	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#3615	6	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#2314	11	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#3536	6	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#2969	8	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#3185	7	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4012	5	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#2759	8	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#3397	6	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#3667	5	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#3548	5	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#3197	5	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3247	4	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#3900	3	High	Verified
2025	Norway	female	#288	13	High	Verified
2024	Norway	female	#314	11	High	Verified
2023	Norway	female	#294	13	High	Verified
2022	Norway	female	#224	18	High	Verified
2021	Norway	female	#470	4	High	Verified
2020	Norway	female	#396	7	High	Verified
2019	Norway	female	#369	9	High	Verified
2018	Norway	female	#452	6	High	Verified
2017	Norway	female	#375	10	High	Verified
2016	Norway	female	#386	10	High	Verified
2015	Norway	female	#325	14	High	Verified
2014	Norway	female	#395	10	High	Verified
2013	Norway	female	#443	8	High	Verified
2012	Norway	female	#439	8	High	Verified
2010	Norway	female	#519	6	High	Verified
2009	Norway	female	#511	6	High	Verified
2008	Norway	female	#546	5	High	Verified
2007	Norway	female	#592	4	High	Verified
2004	Norway	female	#473	6	High	Verified
2001	Norway	female	#527	5	High	Verified
1999	Norway	female	#504	6	High	Verified
1989	Norway	female	#566	6	High	Verified
1985	Norway	female	#654	4	High	Verified
1984	Norway	female	#644	4	High	Verified
1983	Norway	female	#634	4	High	Verified
1981	Norway	female	#478	7	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#862	3	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	female	#417	5	High	Verified
1991	Republic of Ireland	female	#457	4	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	female	#417	5	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	female	#456	4	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	female	#459	4	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	female	#347	8	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	female	#467	4	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	female	#533	3	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	female	#432	5	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	female	#388	6	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	female	#468	4	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	female	#497	3	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	female	#503	3	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	female	#428	4	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	female	#389	5	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	female	#417	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1971 and 2025, ranked in 41 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #224, first reached in 2022.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 23 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

Its record falls into 10 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 3 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1981, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Ellouise · #758, 28y
Elly · #170, 47y
Elna · #164, 35y
Elnathan · #1421, 14y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Edna · #224, 46y
Janis · #223, 39y
Viktorija · #223, 44y
Kristopher · #227, 37y

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1970 and 1979.

Daria · #224, 47y
Eoghain · #224, 23y
Sadia · #225, 52y
Viktorija · #223, 44y

Elma was ranked #224 in Norway · Girls in 2022. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Elma and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Elma without appearing here.

Elma moved ahead of

Cheryl Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2286 and #2286 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #1773 and #5493.
Jayden Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3536 and #3536 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #2187 and #5666.
Kirsten Compare
In 2018 they stood at #2187 and #1977 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2019 that had become #2286 and #5591.
Ellinor Compare
In 2011 they stood at #3185 and #3185 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #2969 and #5876.

Moved ahead of Elma

Harper Compare
In 2005 they stood at #3197 and #3725 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2006 that had become #3548 and #2137.
Fiadh Compare
In 2017 they stood at #2341 and #2502 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #2187 and #1436.
Sadie Compare
In 2007 they stood at #417 and #451 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2008 that had become #862 and #194.
Eabha Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2286 and #2458 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #1773 and #1313.

Moved the opposite way to Elma

Grete Compare
Between 1981 and 2022 in Norway · Girls, Elma went from #478 to #224 while Grete went from #132 to #484.
Reidun Compare
Between 1981 and 2022 in Norway · Girls, Elma went from #478 to #224 while Reidun went from #152 to #425.
Amelia Compare
Between 1971 and 2008 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Elma went from #417 to #862 while Amelia went from #466 to #45.
Annie Compare
Between 1971 and 2008 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Elma went from #417 to #862 while Annie went from #269 to #119.

Moved the same way as Elma

Abigail Compare
Between 1983 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Elma went from #634 to #288 and Abigail from #617 to #273.
Josefine Compare
Between 1983 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Elma went from #634 to #288 and Josefine from #392 to #24.
Maia Compare
Between 1983 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Elma went from #634 to #288 and Maia from #542 to #131.
Oda Compare
Between 1983 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Elma went from #634 to #288 and Oda from #423 to #87.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1971 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #224 in Norway in 2022. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Elma

Elma at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Elma across 3 official records

Elma by decade in Norway · Girls

Elma appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Elma

Elma and the names beside it

Elma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Elma

Moved the opposite way to Elma

Moved the same way as Elma

Elma at a glance

Elma across 3 official records

Elma by decade in Norway · Girls

Elma appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Elma

Elma and the names beside it

Elma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Elma

Moved the opposite way to Elma

Moved the same way as Elma