How popular is the baby name Wilma in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Wilma.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Wilma


Posts that mention the name Wilma

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2015

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

According to data from Statistics Sweden, the most popular baby names in Sweden in 2015 were Elsa and William.

Here are Sweden’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Elsa, 872 baby girls
2. Alice, 847
3. Maja, 674
4. Saga, 671
5. Ella, 627
6. Lilly, 613
7. Olivia, 583
8. Ebba, 576
9. Wilma, 757
10. Julia, 574		1. William, 977 baby boys
2. Lucas, 802
3. Liam, 752
4. Oscar, 737
5. Elias, 732
6. Hugo, 711
7. Oliver, 709
8. Charlie, 664
9. Axel, 627
10. Vincent, 602

In the boys’ top 10, Axel replaced Alexander.

In the girls’ top 10, Saga, Ella and Wilma replaced Agnes, Molly and Linnea.

The names in the top 100 that rose the fastest were:

  • Lo, Saga, Hedvig, Julie, and Ronja for girls, and
  • Kian, Henry, Love, Algot and Sam for boys.

The names in the top 100 that fell the fastest were:

  • Hilda, Cornelia, Elvira, Felicia and Linn for girls, and
  • Linus, Elvin, Rasmus, Felix and Jack for boys.

The sudden rise of Saga (from 21st to 4th) could be due to the popular Scandinavian TV show “The Bridge,” which features a character named Saga. But, as Maybe it is Daijiro notes, the show has been around since 2011. Saga’s usage stayed relatively flat until 2014.

Also in 2015, the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PVR) received 1,942 applications for adult name changes — a new national record. Znövit (Snow White), Lejontass (Lion paw) and Grön (green) were three of the new names requested last year. Sweden may be strict about names for babies, but name changes for adults are approved around 99% of the time.

Sources: Name statistics – Statistics Sweden, Swedes rush to ditch classic Nordic names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

Mystery baby name: Wilba

Graph of the usage of the baby name Wilba in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Wilba

In the early 1900s, the baby name Wilba popped up on the SSA’s baby name list for the first time:

  • 1915: 7 baby girls named Wilba
  • 1914: 7 baby girls named Wilba
  • 1913: 18 baby girls named Wilba [debut]
  • 1912: unlisted
  • 1911: unlisted

It was the top debut name of 1913, along with Vilas. But SSA numbers from the early 1900s aren’t too reliable, so let’s see how many Wilbas are in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for the same time period:

  • 1915: 8 people named Wilba
  • 1914: 7 people named Wilba
  • 1913: 32 people named Wilba
  • 1912: 3 people named Wilba
  • 1911: 4 people named Wilba

The SSA data shows that several wil- names were on the rise during these years, but this doesn’t explain the sudden appearance of Wilba.

Name19111912191319141915
Wilba––1877
Wilberta–7656
Wilbur (f)–758–
Wilda89137133177261
Willow–6121123
Wilma9141241146917872773
Wilna99172318

Neither set of data shows a strong tie to any specific location, though the SSDI data suggests that Wilba was used more often in the south than in the north.

Any idea where this one could have come from?

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2013

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden’s top baby names of 2013 were announced recently.

According to data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), the country’s most popular baby names last year were Alice and Lucas.

Here are Sweden’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2013:

Girl names

  1. Alice, 903 baby girls
  2. Maja, 767
  3. Elsa, 766
  4. Ella, 700
  5. Julia, 687
  6. Ebba, 663
  7. Alicia, 625
  8. Olivia, 616
  9. Alva, 607
  10. Wilma, 600

Boy names

  1. Lucas, 935 baby boys
  2. William, 915
  3. Oscar, 901
  4. Oliver, 800
  5. Hugo, 749
  6. Charlie, 716
  7. Liam, 708
  8. Alexander, 694
  9. Axel, 677
  10. Elias, 676

Names that made the girls’ top 100 for the very first time were Hilma, Ellinor, Sally, Melina, and Nicole. New to the boys’ top 100 were Louie and Tor.

The top names of 2012 were Alice and William.

Source: “Sweden’s most popular baby names revealed.” The Local 21 Jan. 2014.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2012

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

The most popular baby names in Sweden were announced a couple of days ago.

According to Statistics Sweden, the country’s top names are William for boys and Alice for girls.

Here are the top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Alice
2. Elsa
3. Julia
4. Ella
5. Maja
6. Ebba
7. Emma
8. Linnea
9. Molly
10. Alva
11. Wilma
12. Agnes
13. Klara [tie]
13. Nellie [tie]
15. Isabelle
16. Olivia
17. Alicia
18. Ellen
19. Lily
20. Stella		1. William
2. Oscar
3. Lucas
4. Hugo
5. Elias
6. Alexander
7. Liam
8. Charlie
9. Oliver
10. Filip
11. Leo
12. Viktor
13. Vincent
14. Emil
15. Axel
16. Anton
17. Erik
18. Olle
19. Theo
20. Ludvig

Did you know that, back in 1888, Ebba was the top newbie baby name in the U.S.?

But let’s get back to Sweden.

Which Swedish names saw the biggest popularity boosts from 2011 to 2012?

Going up:

Rising Girl NamesRising Boy Names
1. Sigrid
2. Majken
3. Elise
4. Alicia
5. Lykke
6. Ronja
7. Juni
8. Svea
9. Siri [tie]
9. Melissa [tie]		1. Ebbe
2. Henry
3. Elvin
4. Charlie
5. Julian
6. Valter [tie]
6. Matteo [tie]
8. Elton
9. Edward
10. Mohamed

And which names decreased the most in popularity?

Going down:

Falling Girl NamesFalling Boy Names
1. Minna
2. Tove
3. Elin
4. Evelina
5. Thea
6. Tindra
7. Filippa
8. Linnea
9. Tilde
10. Amanda		1. Ville
2. Linus
3. Neo
4. Rasmus
5. Carl
6. Jonathan
7. Simon
8. Viggo [tie]
8. Tim [tie]
10. Joel

Finally, here are the top baby names in Sweden from a couple of years ago.

Sources: Name Statistics – Statistics Sweden, William, Alice top Swedish baby names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)