Arma
Feminine
Arma is a short name from the first half of the twentieth century, two open syllables. It happens to be the first word of the greatest poem in Latin: 'Arma virumque cano', 'I sing of arms and the man'.
How old is the name Arma?
Arma first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Arma alive today was born around 1944, making them about 81 years old. About 300 people named Arma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arma most popular?
Arma peaked in 1946, reaching #1532 nationally. See the whole 1946 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Arma
Virgil began the Aeneid with 'Arma virumque cano', 'I sing of arms and the man', and generations of schoolchildren learned those three words before any others in Latin; George Bernard Shaw even borrowed them for his play Arms and the Man. Arma, the American name, most likely came from Irma or Alma. But it shares its sound with the opening word of an epic, and that is a bold beginning for any name.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Arma may be Irma or Alma heard differently, or a build of its own; nothing records which. It is not documented as taken from the Latin word.
Pronouncing Arma
AR-muh
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1906
- Most girls named
- 194633 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1532reached in 1946
- Change vs 1968
- 0.0%5 in 1969, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Armas among us
people named Arma are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Arma sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Short and simple.
- Almost certain to be the only one.
- Easy to say.
- People will hear Irma or Alma.
- In Latin and Italian arma means weapons, which some will know.
- It reads as an early-twentieth-century name.
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Arma
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Armas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Arma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arma in 2025?
- Arma is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Arma with classmates?
- Arma will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arma? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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