Dalma
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly relating to the dalmatian region.
Name Census estimates that about 37 living Americans carry the first name Dalma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dalma today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dalma births was 1995 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dalma. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dalma. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
37
~ 1 in 9,263,631 Americans
Peak year
1995
9 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2005 SSA rank
#13,337
Tracked since 1916
Census
Dalma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 435 people with the first name Dalma, which placed it at #22,776 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#22,776
National first-name rank
People counted
435
435 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
66.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dalma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dalma is Hispanic at 66.0%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Black (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dalma described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dalma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino66.0% · 287
- White25.7% · 112
- Black or African American6.9% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 3
- Two or more races0.7% · 3
Popularity
Dalma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dalma from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 31 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dalma by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dalma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dalma
The name Dalma has its origins in the Indian subcontinent, specifically in Sanskrit, the ancient language of the Indian scriptures. It is derived from the word "dalima," which means pomegranate. In Sanskrit literature, the pomegranate fruit is often associated with fertility and abundance.
One of the earliest recorded appearances of the name Dalma can be found in the Mahabharata, the ancient Sanskrit epic that dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In this text, Dalma is mentioned as the name of a character, although details about her significance are scarce.
During the medieval period, the name Dalma gained popularity among Hindu communities in various parts of India. It was particularly favored in regions where Sanskrit and its derivatives were spoken, such as the northern and central parts of the subcontinent.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Dalma Bai lived in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She was a talented dancer and musician, and her skills were highly regarded by the imperial court.
Another prominent individual with the name Dalma was Dalma Khanum, a 19th-century Persian poet and courtesan from the city of Lucknow in present-day India. Her poetry and literary works have left a lasting impact on the cultural fabric of the region.
In more recent times, Dalma Heyn was a Hungarian-born photographer and artist who lived from 1924 to 2018. She gained recognition for her experimental photographic techniques and her contributions to the field of visual arts.
Dalma Galmus, born in 1986, is a Romanian singer and songwriter known for her contributions to the local pop music scene. She has released several successful albums and has a significant following in her home country.
While the name Dalma has its roots in the Indian subcontinent, it has also been embraced by various cultures around the world, particularly in regions with historical connections to the Indian diaspora or areas influenced by Sanskrit and its derivatives.
People
Dalma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dalma as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dalma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dalma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 37 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dalma going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 9,263,631 US residents.
Is Dalma a common name?
We classify Dalma as "Very Rare". It ranks above 49.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dalma most popular?
The single biggest year for Dalma was 1995, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dalma is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dalma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 435 people with the name Dalma, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,776 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dalma in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dalma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dalma leans strongly female. 402 people counted with this name were female (92.2%), compared with 34 male bearers (7.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dalma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dalma is Hispanic at 66.0%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Black (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dalma most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dalma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.0% (287 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dalma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dalma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dalma in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dalma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dalma in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dalma can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Dalma?
See how many Americans are named Dalma on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.