Irma
Universal protector, of Germanic origin related to battle fortitude and bravery.
Name Census estimates that about 28,248 living Americans carry the first name Irma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Irma today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Irma births was 1920 (1,393 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Irma. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Irma with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Irma is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 252 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Irma have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
28K
~ 1 in 12,134 Americans
Peak year
1920
1,393 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1990 SSA rank
#2,609
Tracked since 1880
Census
Irma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 84,432 people with the first name Irma, which placed it at #625 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#625
National first-name rank
People counted
84K
84,432 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
28.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Irma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Irma is Hispanic at 82.1%. The next largest groups are White (11.1%) and Black (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Irma described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Irma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino82.1% · 69,334
- White11.1% · 9,333
- Black or African American5.1% · 4,287
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 980
- Two or more races0.3% · 288
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 210
Gender
Gender distribution for Irma
Out of the 73,969 babies given the name Irma since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Irma as a male name
- Ranked #8,640 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1921 (10 births)
Irma as a female name
- Ranked #2,609 in 2024
- 67 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (1,393 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Irma appears almost entirely female. Of the 84,440 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Irma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Irma from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 12,285 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Irma by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Irma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Irmas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Irma, while Nevada, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,253 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Irma
The name Irma has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the Old High German word "irma" or "erma," which means "entire," "universal," or "whole." This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in areas where Germanic tribes and cultures held sway, such as parts of modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Irma can be found in the 9th century, in reference to Saint Irma, a Benedictine abbess who lived in the Frankish Empire (modern-day Germany) during the reign of Charlemagne. Saint Irma is revered as the patron saint of the poor and is celebrated on September 24th in the Catholic Church.
In the literary realm, the name Irma makes an appearance in the works of German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who included a character named Irma in his novel "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship," published in 1795-1796. This literary reference contributed to the name's popularity in German-speaking regions during the 19th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Irma. One such individual was Irma Grese (1923-1945), a notorious Nazi war criminal and concentration camp guard during World War II, who was convicted and executed for her crimes against humanity.
On a more positive note, Irma Stern (1894-1966) was a renowned South African artist known for her vibrant and expressive paintings, particularly those depicting the landscapes and people of Africa. Her works are celebrated for their bold use of color and unique perspective.
Another prominent figure was Irma Gramatica (1905-1994), an Italian actress and stage performer who achieved great success in both theater and film during the mid-20th century. She was particularly acclaimed for her performances in productions by Luigi Pirandello and other renowned Italian playwrights.
Irma Leoni (1926-2012) was an Italian operatic soprano who enjoyed an illustrious career spanning several decades. She performed in some of the world's most prestigious opera houses, including La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Finally, Irma Hirsch (1923-1993) was a Polish-American psychoanalyst and author who made significant contributions to the field of psychoanalysis. Her work focused on the development of the self and the impact of early childhood experiences on personality formation.
People
Irma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Irma as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Irma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Irma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28,248 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Irma going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 12,134 US residents.
Is Irma a common name?
We classify Irma as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 73,969 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Irma most popular?
The single biggest year for Irma was 1920, when 1,393 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Irma is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Irma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 84,432 people with the name Irma, or 27.95 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #625 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Irma in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Irma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Irma appears almost entirely female. Of the 84,440 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Irma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Irma is Hispanic at 82.1%. The next largest groups are White (11.1%) and Black (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Irma most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Irma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (69,334 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Irma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Irma a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Irma in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Irma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Irma in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Irma can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Irma as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Irma on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.