MEANING & HISTORY
What does Thelma mean?
Thelma is a nineteenth-century literary name. It occurs before Marie Corelli’s influential novel Thelma of 1887, including in an earlier Swedish novel.
A connection with Greek thelema, will or wish, is often proposed, but an exact derivation is not established. Its literary formation is therefore more secure than a confident ancient translation. The name should also be distinguished from Telma when that form represents a different local naming history.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
A dictionary pronunciation or syllable division has not been verified for this exact spelling. Use the synthetic reading as a starting point and confirm the intended pronunciation with the family.
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
A literary invention, first appeared in the Swedish novel Kyrkoinvigningen i Hammarby (1840-1841) by Emilie Flygare-Carlén, translated into English as "The Magic Goblet" (1845). Similar names of ambiguous origin, Elma, Selma, Velma, appeared in the 19th century. By folk etymology explained as Ancient Greek θέλημα (thélēma, “will”). Notice also the Spanish and Portuguese Telma, a rare feminine form of Telmo, ultimately from Santelmo or Saint Elmo.
A female given name originating as a coinage.
Wiktionary: Thelma (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Thelma
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Thelma Barina-Rojas
Filipino volleyball player
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
9
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
2
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Thelma Almario, Thelma Barina-Rojas
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Thelma in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Thelma
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Delma·Familiar form of Adelma or Fidelma
- Elma♀Short form associated with Wilhelmina or Guglielma
- Selma♀European name with several routes; Turkish form of Salma
- Thea♀Short form of Dorothea or Theodora
- Alma♀Nourishing or kind in the Latin interpretation
- Anselma♀God and helmet; feminine form of Anselm
- Salma·Safe or sound in Arabic
- Theresa♀From Teresa, earlier recorded as Therasia
What rhymes with Thelma?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Thelma further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q3523520 — Thelma (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Thelma Almario (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q3523520 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Thelma Barina-Rojas (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q3523520 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Thelma (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Thelma (opens in a new tab)
Name formation and linguistic history; consulted existing imported etymology.
- Behind the Name: Thelma (opens in a new tab)
Independent onomastic account of the stated formation and qualifications.