How Many People Are Named Zelma?
people named Zelma are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 106,641 people in the US has this name
Based on 16,936 babies named Zelma in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎💎 Very Rare
Peak Year
494 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Variant of SELMA.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Zelma (99.8%) were girls.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Zelma alive today is about 70 years old, and 81% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 64 and 83 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Zelma first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1919, to 494 babies. In 2025, 16 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Zelma has never been one of the 100 most popular girls' names. Its best rank was #216, in 1902. In 2025 it ranked #7,126.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #7,126 |
| Best rank | #216 (1902) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #327 in the 1920s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Zelma alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Zelma were born in Texas than in any other state: about 310 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Zelma was given 3.3 times as often in Arkansas, 3.2 times in Kentucky and 3.2 times in Oklahoma.
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