Meaning of the nameHelma
- Female
- Germanic origin
- Hel-ma
Helma is a spelling of the name Elma, which means “short form of Wilhelmina, feminine of Wilhelm: 'will, desire' and 'helmet, protection'”.
Meaning
“short form of Wilhelmina, feminine of Wilhelm: 'will, desire' and 'helmet, protection'”
Source: Behind the Name: Helma · Behind the Name: Wilhelmina · Behind the Name: William
- People (2022)
- 1,080
- Rank in Brazil
- #7,841
- Median age
- 56 years
- 2010 Census
- 1,355
- people
Helma in the 2022 Census
People with the first name Helma, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1970s (206 people).
1,078 women 0 men
Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.
Where the name Helma is most common
States with the highest share of people named Helma in the population, in the 2022 Census.
- Rio Grande do Sul 0.002%
All states
| State | People | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| Rio Grande do Sul | 248 | 0.002% |
| Santa Catarina | 96 | 0.001% |
| Minas Gerais | 86 | 0.000% |
| São Paulo | 85 | 0.000% |
| Paraná | 73 | 0.001% |
| Rio de Janeiro | 64 | 0.000% |
| Bahia | 64 | 0.001% |
| Pará | 44 | 0.001% |
| Goiás | 44 | 0.001% |
| Pernambuco | 39 | 0.000% |
| Maranhão | 32 | 0.001% |
| Mato Grosso | 27 | 0.001% |
| Amazonas | 24 | 0.001% |
| Ceará | 23 | 0.000% |
| Distrito Federal | 23 | 0.001% |
| Paraíba | 18 | 0.001% |
States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.
The spelling Helma
Behind the Name treats Helma as a German and Dutch short form of Wilhelmina; in Brazil, the people registered with this spelling are spread over several decades, starting before 1940.
About the name Elma
In its English entry, Wiktionary describes Elma as a nineteenth-century coinage, usually explained as a form of Wilhelmina or of the Italian Guglielma, and also records a reading as a blend of Elizabeth and Mary. Behind the Name gives it as a short form of Wilhelmine or of names ending in -elma, such as Anselma; the Morfemário of the Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil (Dictionary of Names in Use in Brazil) links the ending -elma to -elmo, from Germanic helm, 'helmet, protection'. Because the explanations point to different names, the meaning of Elma is not known for certain. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 14,440 people named Elma, with a median age of 49; the name is almost always female and, proportionally, most common in Amapá.
Other spellings of Elma
| Spelling | People (2022) |
|---|---|
| Elma | 14,440 |
| Helma | 1,080 |
Sources
- Behind the Name: Helma · behindthename.com · meaning
- Behind the Name: Wilhelmina · behindthename.com · meaning
- Behind the Name: William · behindthename.com · meaning
- Wiktionary: Elma · en.wiktionary.org · origin
- Behind the Name: Elma · behindthename.com · origin
- Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Morfemário · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · origin
- Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Elma · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · spelling
Questions about the name Helma
What does the name Helma mean?
Helma means “short form of Wilhelmina, feminine of Wilhelm: 'will, desire' and 'helmet, protection'”, according to Behind the Name.
How many people are named Helma in Brazil?
IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 1,080 people with the first name Helma, which ranks it number 7,841 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1970s.
Is Helma a boy's or a girl's name?
Helma is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 1,078 women and 0 men had this name (IBGE does not publish very small counts).
What is the origin of the name Helma?
Helma is a name of Germanic origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.
In which Brazilian state is Helma most common?
Proportionally, in Rio Grande do Sul: 0.002% of the state's population is named Helma (248 people), according to the 2022 Census.
What are the other spellings of Helma?
Elma. IBGE counts each spelling separately.
More names of Germanic origin
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