Gilma
Of uncertain origin, possibly referring to a type of plant.
Name Census estimates that about 107 living Americans carry the first name Gilma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gilma today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gilma births was 1989 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gilma. 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.
People living today
107
~ 1 in 3,203,312 Americans
Peak year
1989
14 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2002 SSA rank
#12,674
Tracked since 1899
Census
Gilma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,505 people with the first name Gilma, which placed it at #6,416 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
#6,416
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,505 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gilma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gilma is Hispanic at 95.0%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Black (0.8%). 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 Gilma 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 Gilma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.0% · 2,381
- White3.0% · 76
- Black or African American0.8% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Gilma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gilma from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 42 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Gilma remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gilma 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 Gilma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gilmas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gilma
The given name Gilma has its origins rooted in ancient Germanic languages. Derived from the Proto-Germanic word "gilms," meaning "sacrifice" or "offering," it was initially used as a personal name among various Germanic tribes during the early medieval period.
Linguists trace its earliest usage to the 5th century AD, when it was commonly found among the Visigothic and Ostrogothic peoples who had migrated and settled across parts of modern-day Spain, France, and Italy. In these regions, variations such as "Gilmir" and "Gilmaro" were also prevalent.
While there are no definitive historical records or ancient texts that directly reference the name Gilma, its Germanic roots suggest a potential connection to pagan rituals and sacrificial practices of the era. However, this association remains speculative and subject to further scholarly research.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Gilma was a Visigothic noblewoman who lived in the 6th century AD in the region of Hispania (modern-day Spain). Unfortunately, little is known about her life beyond her name's appearance in a few surviving documents from that time period.
In the 9th century, a Frankish monk and scholar named Gilma gained recognition for his contributions to the preservation of ancient manuscripts and his work in the monastic scriptoria of the Carolingian Empire.
During the 11th century, a Gilma of Salerno, an Italian physician and writer, authored several influential texts on medical practices and herbal remedies, which were widely circulated throughout Europe during the Middle Ages.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Gilma von Staufen emerged as a influential courtier and advisor to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Her political acumen and strategic counsel were highly valued within the imperial court.
Lastly, in the 15th century, a German artist and illuminator known as Gilma von Augsburg gained recognition for her exquisite illuminations and illustrations adorning several religious manuscripts and texts, which are now considered masterpieces of medieval art.
People
Gilma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gilma as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gilma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gilma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 107 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gilma 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 3,203,312 US residents.
Is Gilma a common name?
We classify Gilma as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 228 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gilma most popular?
The single biggest year for Gilma was 1989, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gilma is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gilma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,505 people with the name Gilma, or 0.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,416 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 Gilma 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 Gilma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gilma leans strongly female. 2,476 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 27 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Gilma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gilma is Hispanic at 95.0%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Black (0.8%). 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 Gilma most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Gilma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (2,381 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 Gilma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gilma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gilma 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 Gilma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gilma 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 Gilma 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 people have the name Gilma?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.