Girl · #5,563 in 2026

Helma

Name: Popularity of the name Helma in U.S. births, 1880–2026
Creator: U.S. Social Security Administration
License: https://www.ssa.gov/foia/
Keywords: Helma, baby name, popularity, U.S., SSA, rankings

Helma is a feminine German or Dutch given name, and a Czech surname. Notable persons with that name include:Helma Knorscheidt, East German shot putter Helma Lehmann, German rower Helma Neppérus, Dutch politician Helma Orosz, German politician Helma Sanders-Brahms (1940–2014), German film director

German
Dutch

Current Rank

#5,563

Peak Rank

#1,485 (1916)

Total Babies

595

5-Yr Trend

Stable

1880

First Year

1952

Last Year

1916

Peak Year

#1485

Peak Rank

595

Total Count

Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Helma

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)

German
Dutch

The Story of Helma

Helma first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1880, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1916: 25 births, good for #1,485 nationwide. About 26% of every Helma on record arrived during the 1910s, its defining decade. Helma last appeared in the published SSA data in 1952, with 5 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 595 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1880s to the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

Top 10

11-50

51-100

101-500

500+

No data

Variants & Related Forms of Helma

Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Helma. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Names that sound like Helma

Phonetically similar names — useful when Helma is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Hilma
Helmi
Halma
Hilmi
Helmet
Helm
Hella
Helmut
Helms
Helmed
Hema
Hela

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Helma

What does the name Helma mean?

What is the origin of the name Helma?

Helma has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: German, Dutch.

How popular is Helma in 2026?

In 2026, Helma ranks #5,563 among girls' names in the U.S., with 5 babies given the name that year.

When was Helma most popular?

Helma reached its peak popularity in 1916, ranking #1,485 that year with 25 babies given the name.

In which U.S. states is Helma most popular?

Helma has historically been most popular in Wisconsin. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Helma.

Is Helma a unisex name?

In U.S. Social Security records, Helma is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name.

What names go well with Helma?

Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Helma include Arabell, Berte, Onezia. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

What are nicknames or variants of Helma?

Common variants and related forms of Helma include Elma, Mien, Mina, Minna, Wil, Wilhelmina. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms.

About the name Helma

Helma is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 595 births in the dataset. Helma's peak popularity came in 1916 when it ranked #1,485. Use the chart and map above to compare Helma's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.