AHL-mah
Alma
Top 1000
About Alma
Alma is a solemn, soulful, yet gentle sounding name that became fashionable in England following the Battle of Alma during the 19th century Crimean War. A name with multiple origins, Alma has subtle, international flair and plenty of vintage charm.
From its Latin roots, Alma is linked to anima meaning "soul", and has the same meaning in modern Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. In Hebrew, it means "young woman", while in Kazakh, it means "apple". It also appears in the Book of Mormon as a masculine name.
In addition to being familiar via the term alma mater, Alma has many cultural ties, such as Alma Mahler, a 19th Century composer and musician and the character Alma Del Mar played by Michelle Williams in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain. Other characters named Alma have appeared in Deadwood, The Hunger Games, American Horror Story, and The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. In the Tennessee Williams play Summer and Smoke, a character named Alma explains that her name is "Spanish for soul."
Given to 650 girls in the US in a recent year, Alma is a favorite in Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Uruguay, France, Denmark, and Argentina, where recent counts have seen it rank in the Top 20. It is also popular in England and Wales, Chile, Finland, and Israel.
In tune with the likes of Anna, Emma, and Ella, along with Ada and Alba, we can see Alma also rising again in the US.
Pronounced AHL-mah.
As of October 2026, Alma ranked #449 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #51 in 1897, Nameberry popularity #136.
Editor's take: The name Alma is a girl's name of Hebrew, Latin origin meaning "nurturing, soul; young woman; apple".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #677 | 420 | 235.1 |
| 2015 | #684 | 417 | 233.6 |
| 2016 | #724 | 392 | 221.2 |
| 2017 | #651 | 455 | 263.5 |
| 2018 | #648 | 458 | 269.2 |
| 2019 | #615 | 491 | 292.5 |
| 2020 | #564 | 521 | 322.3 |
| 2021 | #508 | 611 | 372.4 |
| 2022 | #483 | 657 | 400.6 |
| 2023 | #461 | 666 | 415.1 |
| 2024 | #472 | 653 | 403 |
| 2025 | #449 | 689 | 428.7 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Alma.
Famous Almas
- Alma Thomas
American painter
- Alma Leonore Beltran
Mexican actress
- Alma Angela Cogan
English pop singer
- Alma Guillermoprieto
Mexican journalist
- Alma Redlinger
Romanian painter & illustrator
- Alma Lucy Reville
Lady Hitchcock, English director and screenwriter; wife of director Alfred Hitchcock
- Alma Genevieve Rubens
American silent film actress
- Alma Maria Mahler
Austrian socialite; wife of composer Gustav Mahler, architect Walter Gropius, and novelist Franz Werfel
- Alma Rosé
Austrian violinist and conductor of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz
- Alma Socorro Martínez (Torres)
Mexican footballer
- Alma Templeton Moodie
Australian violinist
- (Alma) Andrea Meza
Miss World Mexico 2017
- Alma Jiménez Porter (b. 2011)
daughter of footballer Iker Jimenez
- Alma Sanz (b. 2014)
daughter of singer Alejandro Sanz
- Alma Versano (b. 2011)
daughter of actress Gal Gadot and Yaron Versano
- Alma Mascherano
daughter of Argentine footballer Javier Mascherano
- Alma Bay Dano (b. 2018)
daughter of actor/writers Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano
Alma in pop culture
- Alma Singer
character in The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
- Alma Winemiller
main character in Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke
- Alma Walker
character on FX's American Horror Story: Asylum
- Alma Coin
character in The Hunger Games trilogy
- Alma Dray
character in film Now You See Me
- Alma Garret
character on TV's Deadwood
- Alma LeFay Peregrine
character in the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs
- Alma Wade
character in the F.E.A.R. video game series
- Alma Parker
character in 1966 film The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
- Alma Halliwell
character on British soap Coronation Street
- Alma Hodge
character on TV's Desperate Housewives
- Alma
a Greater Fiend from the video game Ninja Gaiden
- Alma Montemayor
main character in Mexican telenovela Porque el amor manda
- Alma Beoulve
character in video game Final Fantasy Tactics
- Alma Jinnai
character in anime Jewelpet Tinkle
- Alma Pudden
character in the St Clare book series by Enid Blyton
- Alma
character in animated series Doc McStuffins
- Book of Alma
section of the Book of Mormon
- Alma
a character in The Handmaid's Tale TV series