Alma
Meaning of Alma
Alma is a pocket-sized love letter to the Spanish word for “soul,” a Latin classic that has been singing through the centuries since “alma mater” first meant a nurturing mother at Rome’s universities. With just four letters and two soft beats—AHL-mah in Spanish, AHL-muh in English—it feels like a lullaby that fits in the palm of your hand yet echoes from cathedral choirs to modern art studios. History sprinkles the name with intrigue: Victorian parents borrowed it after the 1854 Battle of the Alma, composers like Alma Mahler gave it a Viennese swoon, painter Alma Thomas splashed it in vibrant color, and today it’s climbing back up the U.S. charts, sitting comfortably around #416 but clearly warming up for an encore. Alma wears many cultural hats—“young woman” in Hebrew, “learned” in Arabic—so she’s both wise and forever young, the kind of name that hands your daughter a passport stamped with creativity, kindness, and a touch of old-world romance. In short, Alma is the soulful whisper that somehow manages to shout “¡Viva la vida!” every time you call her in for dinner.
Pronunciation
Spanish
- Pronunced as AHL-mah (/ˈalma/)
English
- Pronunced as AHL-muh (/ˈɑːlmə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Alma
| Alma Woodsey Thomas was a pioneering African-American artist renowned for her vibrant abstract paintings created after retiring from teaching, and she became the first African-American woman in the White House's permanent art collection. |
| Alma Elizabeth Deutscher is a British child prodigy composer who wrote her first full-length opera at age ten. |
| Alma Mahler-Werfel was an Austrian composer who created dozens of songs and was mentored by Max Burckhard at age 15. |
| Alma Sundquist was a pioneering Swedish physician and women's rights activist who specialized in treating venereal diseases and advocated for suffrage and better conditions for women. |
| Alma Har'el is an Israeli-American film director who won a Directors Guild of America Award for her debut feature "Honey Boy." |
| Alma, a French singer and songwriter, represented France in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with "Requiem" and finished twelfth. |
| Alma Clavering Howard Rolleston Ebert co-developed the cell cycle concept with Stephen Pelc, revolutionizing cell biology with universal terminology. |
| Alma is a Finnish singer-songwriter who gained fame after her 2015 breakthrough hit and signing with Universal Music Group. |
| Alma Maximiliana Karlin was a pioneering Slovenian explorer who became one of the first European women to travel around the world alone. |
| Alma Reville was an English screenwriter and film editor who collaborated with her husband Alfred Hitchcock on films like Shadow of a Doubt and The Lady Vanishes. |
| Alma Moreno, born Venesa Moreno Lacsamana, is a Filipino actress and politician. |
| Alma Katsu is an American author of adult fiction whose books have been translated into numerous languages and published internationally. |
| Alma Wilson - Alma Dorothy Bell Wilson was the first woman to serve on the Oklahoma Supreme Court and its first female chief justice. |
| Alma Siedhoff-Buscher, originally named Alma Buscher, was a German designer who studied at the Reimann School, the Unterrichtsanstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums, and the Bauhaus. |
| Alma Gluck was an American lyric soprano born in Romania. |
