Belma
Feminine
Belma has lived two separate lives in America: as a rare name at the end of the nineteenth century, in the company of Velma and Thelma, and a century later as one of the familiar girls' names of the Bosnian families who settled in St. Louis. Two syllables, soft and round, the same in both.
How old is the name Belma?
Belma first appears in US birth records in 1895 — 130 years ago. The typical Belma alive today was born around 1950, making them about 75 years old. About 300 people named Belma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Belma most popular?
Belma peaked in 1895, reaching #1592 nationally. See the whole 1895 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Belma
In the nineteenth century Belma sat among the soft -elma names that American families were giving their daughters, Velma, Thelma, Selma. Then, after the war in Bosnia in the nineteen-nineties, thousands of Bosnian refugees resettled in St. Louis, around the Bevo Mill neighborhood, making it home to one of the largest Bosnian communities outside the Balkans, and Belma, a familiar name in Bosnian families, came with them. Two roads, a century apart, arriving at the same five letters.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Belma is a common girl's name in Bosnia, but no reference settles where it comes from. The earlier American Belma sounds like one of the Velma and Thelma family and may have been formed on their pattern; nothing records it.
Pronouncing Belma
BEL-muh
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Bosnian it is BEL-mah.
Nicknames for Belma
Limited
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
- 1895
- Most girls named
- 191818 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1592reached in 1895
- Change vs 2019
- 0.0%5 in 2021, 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.
Belma in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Belma in Bosnian — same name
Belmas among us
people named Belma 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
Belma 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, soft and easy to say in English and Bosnian alike.
- A living name in Bosnian families, so it is not a novelty.
- Rare in America, so a Belma is unlikely to share it.
- People will hear Velma or Thelma and may spell it that way.
- Its meaning is not documented, so the honest answer to 'what does it mean' is that nobody has settled it.
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Belma
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Belmas 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 Belma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Belma in 2025?
- Belma is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Belma with classmates?
- Belma will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Belma? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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