Elma (given name)

GenderPrimarily feminine

MeaningFeminine form of Elmer, short form of Wilhelmina or various names ending in -elma

Related namesAlma, Elmer, Elmira, Helma, Wilhelmina

Elma
Origin
English businesswoman and public benefactor Elma Yerburgh (1864–1946)
Gender	Primarily feminine
Meaning	Feminine form of Elmer, short form of Wilhelmina or various names ending in -elma
Other names
Related names	Alma, Elmer, Elmira, Helma, Wilhelmina

Elma is a primarily feminine given name of various origins.

As an English name, it is considered a feminine version of the name Elmer, or a combination of the names Elizabeth and Mary,^[1] a diminutive form of Wilhelmina and various names ending in -elma, or a variant of Alma, Elmira, or Helma.^[2]

In the Balkans, Elma is popular among Bosniaks in the former Yugoslav nations. The name has been among the 100 most popular names for girls born in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2009 and 2024.^[3] In this region, the male equivalent is Elmin.

In Brazil, Elma was among the 1,000 most popular names for girls born between 1930 and 1980. In the United States, it was among the 1,000 most popular names for girls born in the United States between 1880 and 1958.^[4]

Women

Elma Bellini (1954–2018), American judge
Elma Bulla (1913–1980), Hungarian stage and film actress
Wilhelmina "Elma" Campbell (1901–1983), Scottish nationalist activist
Elma Tryphosa Dangerfield (1907–2006), British journalist, writer, campaigner and Liberal Party politician
Elma Danielsson (1865–1936), Swedish journalist and politician
Elma Davis (1968–2019), South African international lawn bowler
Elma de Vries (born 1983), Dutch marathon speed skater and inline speed skater
Elma Dienda (born 1964), South African-born Namibian politician and teacher
Elma Salinas Ender (born 1953), American attorney and judge
Elma Francois (1897–1944), Trinidadian and Tobagonian Afrocentric Socialist political activist
Elma Gada Kris, Australian dancer and choreographer of Aboriginal Australian descent
Elma González (born 1942), Mexican-born American plant cell biologist
Elma Gove (1832–1921), American painter
Elma Halilcevic (born 2000), Danish handball player of Bosnian descent
Elma Holder, American elder rights activist
Elizabeth "Elma" Innes (1921–2015), Scottish paediatric haematologist
Elma Karlowa (1932–1994), Yugoslav film and television actress
Elma Lewis (1921–2004), American arts educator and the founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists and The Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts
Elma Maua (1948–2010), Cook Islands-born New Zealand journalist and editor
Elma Mbadiwe, Nigerian actress
Elma Miller (born 1954), Canadian musician, composer, writer and educator
Elma Mitchell (1919–2000), Scottish poet
Elma Muros (born 1967), Filipina former track and field athlete
Elma Napier (née Gordon-Cumming; 1892–1973), Scottish-born writer and politician who spent most of her life in Dominica
Elma N'For (born 1995), Cameroonian footballer
Elma Parsamyan (born 1929), Soviet and Armenian astrophysicist and astronomer
Elma Postma (born 1978), South African actress and presenter
Elma Rabe, South African politician
Elma Roach (1897–1942), Australian modernist painter and woodworker
Elma Saiz (born 1975), Spanish politician
Elma Sandford-Morgan (1890–1983), Australian physician who practised medicine in India and Iraq during the 1920s
Elma Shemsovikj (born 1999), Macedonian footballer
Elma Soiron (1918–2016), English actress
Elma Steck (1923–2014), American women's baseball player
Elma Ström (1822–1889), Swedish opera singer
Elma Stuckey (1907–1988), American poet and school teacher of African-American descent
Elma van Haren (born 1954), Dutch poet
Elma Mary Williams (1913–1971), British writer
Elma Yerburgh (née Thwaites; 1864–1946), English businesswoman and public benefactor

Elma (given name)

Women

Men

Notes

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