Wilma

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled וילמה in IL Israel.

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 12 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◐

Wilma is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name643K records spelled Wilma12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Philippines, United States, Peru

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian

  Also written Wílma, Wilmá, Wílmà, Wïlmä, Wïlmå

• Thai given name2.7K records spelled Wilma10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, Thailand, Laos, United States

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written Vilma, วลมา, วัลมา, วิลม่า, วลิมา

62 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●

Wilma 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.

• In French, Short feminine form of Wilhelmine/Wilhelm, from Germanic wil ‘will’ + helm ‘protection’.

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

• In English, nickname from Wilhelmina; "a woman or wife"

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, A female given name from the Germanic languages, a contraction of Wilhelmina.

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

• In French, Féminin/variante de Guillaume; du germ. will + helm, « volonté/protection ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Diminutif de Wilhelmine; origine germanique, de "volonté" et "protection".

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

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●

• Wilma Nerudab. 1840SEMoravian violinist (1838–1911)
• Wilma Lippb. 1925ATAustrian soprano (1925-2019)
• Wilma Montesib. 1932ITItalian murder victim (1932–1953)
• Wilma Pellyb. 1937CACanadian Saulteaux actress
• Wilma Rudolphb. 1940USAmerican athlete (1940–1994)
• Wilma Mankillerb. 1945USChief of the Cherokee Nation (1945–2010)
• Wilma Goichb. 1945ITItalian recording artist, pop singer
• Wilma Labateb. 1949ITfilm director
• Wilma Ellesb. 1986DEGerman actress
• Wilma Helteläb. 1998FIFinnish pole vaulter

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 · 991 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Wilma?

We estimate roughly 223 thousand people bear Wilma (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Wilma have the most bearers?

We estimate about 125 thousand people bear Wilma in Brazil, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled wilma.

Where is Wilma most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Wilma is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 592 people — even though Brazil holds more of our records for it.

How common is Wilma compared with other names?

In Sweden, Wilma is the 272nd most common given name of 36,824 given names recorded there.

Is Wilma a male or female name?

Wilma 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 Wilma mean?

Recorded meaning: Contraction of Wilhelma, i.e.