Irma

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled אירמה in HU Hungary, IL Israel, NO Norway.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Irma is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name994K records spelled Irma15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Guatemala, Netherlands, Venezuela

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written Irmã, Įřmã, Îrma, Irmâ, Įrmå

• Hungarian given name160K records spelled Irma6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, Slovenia, United States

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Írma, Ìrma, Irmä

• Indonesian given name83K records spelled Irma8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Irma, Irma', Ïrmä, Irmä, Irmã

• a separate given name55K records spelled Irma2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Peru

  Also written Irmã

• Russian given name40K records spelled Irma30 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Czechia, United States, Ukraine

  Languages: Russian, Czech, Ukrainian

  Also written Ирма, Ірма, Ирм, Ірм, Iрма

• Albanian given name5.1K records spelled Irma3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Albania, United States, Italy

  Also written Irmã, Îrma

• English given name3.8K records spelled Irma39 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Erma, Hermas, เออมา, Irmã, Írma

71 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Irma is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• of the nature of wind. moves constantly; instigates everything.

  as a name·The Penguin book of Hindu names for boys

• In English, A female given name from the Germanic languages.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Irma är ett tyskt namn, ursprungligen en smekform till namn på Irm(in)- ’stor, väldig’ (jfr → Emma och → Irmeli). En känd namnbärare är musikern Irma Schultz (f. 1965). I den rikssvenska almanackan 7 april och i den finlandssvenska 31 mars.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In French, Germanique, probablement de irm « grand, entier ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In Russian, de /еза'ай, Yahvé est délivrance. Mcas Jssaïa est sa forme canonique. Fêtes : 14 (27) janvier, 16 février (29 février / 1 mars), 9 (22) mai, 15 (28) mai, 23 mai (5 juin), 28 septembre (11 octobre). Îsaïe ou Esaïe est son équivalent français. Fêtes : 6 juillet, 16 février.

  as a name·Russian Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Irma von Cubeb. 1899DEGerman screenwriter (1899-1977)
• Irma Greseb. 1923DEGerman concentration camp guard (1923–1945)
• Irma Wymanb. 1928USAmerican computer scientist (1928–2015)
• Irma Johanssonb. 1932SESwedish cross-country skier
• Irma Serranob. 1933MXMexican singer, actress, politician, theatre entrepreneur and author (1933–2023)
• Irma P. Hallb. 1935USAmerican actress
• Irma Raushb. 1938RURussian actress and film director (*1938)
• Irma Thomasb. 1941USAmerican soul and rhythm and blues singer
• Irma Lozanob. 1943MXMexican actress (1943–2013)
• Irma Testab. 1997ITItalian boxer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,318 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Irma?

We estimate roughly 175 thousand people bear Irma (counting its spellings and scripts) across 15 countries in our records.

In which country does Irma have the most bearers?

Irma is most frequently recorded in Mexico, where it is most often spelled irma.

How common is Irma compared with other names?

In Mexico, Irma is the 77th most common given name of 191,605 given names recorded there.

Is Irma a male or female name?

Irma is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Irma mean?

Recorded meaning: Germanic hypocoristic from a root irmin/ermins, 'strength'.