Rema
Feminine
Rema is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 1,207 girls against 10 boys since 1880.
American records around 1900 are full of women's names ending in -ma, and several of them were invented. Thelma was made for a novel in 1887. Selma came out of a forged Gaelic epic. Wilma is Wilhelmina cut down. Velma, Zelma, Alma and Rema all belong to that stretch of years.
How old is the name Rema?
Rema first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Rema alive today was born around 1962, making them about 63 years old. About 800 people named Rema are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rema most popular?
Rema peaked in 1914, reaching #1303 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 10,629 places below that high. See the whole 1914 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Rema
The -ma cluster is one of the clearest fashions in the American record and it is unusually traceable. Thelma was coined by Marie Corelli for a novel about a Norwegian woman and had almost no prior existence; the book was one of the bestsellers of its decade. Selma comes from Ossian, the eighteenth-century Scottish epic that turned out to have been largely written by its supposed translator, and it names a hall rather than a person. Alma got a push from a Crimean War battle in 1854. Once several such names were circulating, the ending itself became productive, and Rema is one of the results — a name shaped by a pattern rather than descended from a word.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source has been established. Rema appears in American records in the early twentieth century with no European parent identified. It may be a clip of Remedios or Ramona, a respelling of Rima, or a formation built to fit the -ma pattern that was current at the time.
Pronouncing Rema
REE-mah
Two syllables, stress on the first. REH-mah, with a short first vowel, is also recorded and the spelling settles neither.
Nicknames for Rema
Moderate
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
- 1907
- Most girls named
- 191423 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1303reached in 1914
- Change vs 2023
- −30.0%7 in 2025, from 10
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.
Remas among us
people named Rema are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Rema
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Rema
- #11932
- Rema on the 2025 chart
- #903
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Rema went to 7 girls in 2025, but Reema is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 57, which makes it the 903rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 11,029 places above the chart.
- Reema50
- Rema7
About 1 girl in 28,198 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 229,610 for Rema itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Rema sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Rema beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rema in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, with nothing that has to be explained.
- It serves either child, and the records show both.
- It is genuinely rare, so a child will almost certainly never meet another.
- There is no documented origin, and the honest answer is that it belongs to a pattern rather than a word.
- The first vowel is said two ways and the spelling does not decide.
- It is strongly represented among older generations and reads clearly as of that time.
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What they receive
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Rema
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Remas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Rema are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Rema?
- Rema is one of 2 recorded spellings. Reema is the more common one — 50 births in 2025 against 7 for Rema.
- How popular is the name Rema in 2025?
- Rema ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rema?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Rema — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rema with classmates?
- Rema will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rema
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rema? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rema and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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