Imelda
A Spanish feminine name of Germanic origin meaning "industrial" or "battler".
Name Census estimates that about 5,093 living Americans carry the first name Imelda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Imelda today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Imelda births was 1978 (149 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Imelda. 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
5.1K
~ 1 in 67,299 Americans
Peak year
1978
149 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,658
Tracked since 1891
Popularity
Imelda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Imelda from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,283 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Imelda 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 Imelda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Imeldas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Imelda, while New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 264 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Imelda
The name Imelda has its origins in the Germanic languages. It is derived from the Old German words "ira" meaning "iron" and "milta" meaning "work" or "labor". Together, these root words suggest a meaning along the lines of "iron worker" or "hard worker".
In the early medieval period, the name Imelda was predominantly used in areas of what is now modern-day Germany and the surrounding regions. Over time, it spread to other parts of Europe through migrations and cultural exchange. Variant spellings from this era include Imilda, Ymylda, and Ymelta.
One of the earliest documented uses of the name Imelda can be found in the hagiography of Saint Imelda Lambertini, an Italian nun who lived in the 13th century. According to Catholic tradition, she had a profound spiritual experience involving the Holy Eucharist at a young age, which contributed to her canonization.
In the 14th century, an English noblewoman named Imelda de Ralegh was recorded as a landowner in Somerset. She was born around 1320 and held estates in the region until her death in 1392.
During the Renaissance period, Imelda Lambertini, an Italian painter and engraver, achieved recognition for her artistic works. She was born in Bologna in 1322 and is known for her religious-themed engravings and etchings.
In the 19th century, Imelda Maier was a German-born American pioneer and early settler in Texas. She was born in 1817 in Bavaria and immigrated to the United States in the 1840s, eventually settling in the German communities of central Texas.
Another notable figure was Imelda Marcos, the controversial former First Lady of the Philippines. Born in 1929, she was known for her lavish lifestyle and extensive shoe collection during her husband's presidency in the 1960s and 1970s.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Imelda
People
Imelda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Imelda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Imelda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Imelda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,093 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Imelda 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 67,299 US residents.
Is Imelda a common name?
We classify Imelda as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,442 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Imelda most popular?
The single biggest year for Imelda was 1978, when 149 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Imelda is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Imelda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Imelda 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.
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.