Imelda
Meaning
“From Germanic elements ermen, whole or great, and hild, battle; reached English via Italian.”
The story
Imelda comes from the Germanic elements ermen and hild, whole or great combined with battle, softened on its way through Italian. Its beloved bearer is Blessed Imelda Lambertini, the fourteenth-century Bolognese child honored as patroness of first communicants, and through that devotion the name became a Catholic favorite far beyond Italy, nowhere more so than in the Philippines, where it remains most common today. The US curve keeps a steady quiet band across the whole record, with small upticks in the 1970s and 2000s. Great battle by etymology, gentleness by association: Imelda holds both without strain. The Filipino prominence is a later cultural home, not evidence that the Germanic name began there. That layered route explains why its sound travels farther than its origin.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Imelda peaked in the 1970s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
394 people · the #15,755 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 500,000 · median age 70
Among people named Imelda living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Imelda
People given the name Imelda in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 to 1999. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Imelda deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Imelda 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 Imelda fits with your family’s names and surname.
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