Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Thelma?
Births per year, rank history and how many Thelmas are alive today.
Thelma (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 10 in 2025, ranked 2605th. The name peaked in 1934, when around 590 babies were given the name, the 57th most popular that year. It has declined since 1934; the 2025 figure is roughly 2% of its peak. At least 24,000 babies have been named Thelma in England and Wales since 1924. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Thelma you are most likely to meet is around 79 years old. Half of all Thelmas born in England and Wales are between 58 and 82, and there are at least 16,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 5% chance that at least one of them will be called Thelma.
How many babies are named Thelma each year?
Where does Thelma rank among girls' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Thelma most popular?
Thelma peaked in 1934, when around 590 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Thelma?
At least 16,000 people named Thelma born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Thelma?
Most living Thelmas are between 58 and 82; the most common age is about 79.
Is Thelma becoming more or less popular?
Rising: numbers have been climbing in recent years.