Ima
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Meaning
genuinely disputed: claimed as a Germanic variant of Emma/Irma, the informal Hebrew word for mother, or an American coinage
How popular is Ima around the world?
In the United States, 13 babies were named Ima between 2020 and 2025. At the 2022 census, 131 people in Brazil were named Ima, ranked 34,096th, with a median age of 59.
Ima is on the official records of the United States and Brazil.
United States
1 in 1.7M
In the United States, 13 babies were named Ima between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ima peaked in the 1890s and the 1930s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 131 people in Brazil were named Ima, ranked 34,096th, with a median age of 59.
Among people named Ima living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
last on record 2022
Ima is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Canada
last on record 2013
Ima is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
last on record 2024
Ima is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Montevideo City
last on record 1960
Ima is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Ima
Most people given the name Ima in the United States were born between 1930 and 1959. The Ima you meet today is most often in her 70s or 80s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Ima deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ima truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ima fits with your family’s names and surname.
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