Irma

Where Irma comes from

From German Irma in the nineteenth century. Short form of Germanic names beginning with irm(en)-, erm(en) "whole, entire", from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz. Cognate with English Emma.
— Wiktionary's entry for Irma
  • Germanic
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #282 among girls — 30 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1911
    Peak, #137
    615 babies named Irma — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1923
    Irma Grese born
    German concentration camp guard
  4. 1941
    Irma Thomas born
    American soul and rhythm and blues singer
  5. 1983
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #745.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Irma Grese · German concentration camp guard, 1923–1945
  • Irma Thomas · American soul and rhythm and blues singer, born 1941
  • Irma Testa · Italian boxer, born 1997
  • Irma Serrano · Mexican singer, actress, politician, theatre entrepreneur and author, 1933–2023
  • Irma Stern · South African artist, 1894–1966

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.