Alma (given name)

Alma or (according to Jones 1997) /'ælmə/) is an English feminine given name, but has historically been used in the masculine form as well, sometimes in the form Almo. The origin of the name is debated; it may have been derived from "alma mater" ("benevolent mother", a title used for the Virgin Mary, and in antiquity, for several goddesses). It gained popularity after the Battle of Alma in the 19th century and appeared as a fashionable name for girls and a popular place name, but it has decreased in appearance in the 20th and 21st centuries. The name Alma also has several meanings in a variety of languages, and is generally translated to mean that the child "feeds one's soul" or "lifts the spirit".

Origin
The exact origin of the name Alma is debated (cf. Hanks/Hodges 1990:'of uncertain origin'), but it is most likely derived (according to some sources), in the female form, from the Latin word almus, which means "kind", "fostering", or "nourishing". Drosdowski (1974) differentiates between two different names: one derived from Spanish, the other derived from Germanic names with the element 'Amal'. It has been most familiarized by its use in the term alma mater, which means "fostering mother", or "nourishing mother", and in modern times is most associated with a collegiate hymn or song, or to encompass the years in which a student earned their degree. Also, the Arabic words for "the water" and "on the water" are el-ma and al-ma, respectively. It may also be of Greek derivation, where the word αλμη means "salt water". In Hebrew, Alma (עלמה) means a young woman, particularly unmarried, and it appears in the Bible in the Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis 24:43.

Early appearances


It has been applied repeatedly for the title of goddesses, namely Diana and Ceres, as well as other deities of the light, earth, and day. Alma was used classically in connotation as a way to reflect the traditional female roles in providing nurture, following its derivation from its Latin root. It was introduced with minimal usage during the Italian Renaissance, as the likely result of a character by Edmund Spenser in his poem The Faerie Queene. Alma, who is the head of the House of Temperance, is considered to parallel the spirit metaphorically.

On 20 September 1854 the Battle of Alma, named after the Alma River nearby, which was a war between the French, English, and Ottoman empires and the Russian empire was fought and ended. This battle is typically considered to be the first battle of the Crimean War. Alma is the Crimean Tatar word for "apple". The name had limited use for females prior to the war, and afterwards it began appearing in birth registers for both male and female, and in significantly higher frequency. Alma also came in conjunction with many terms related to the circumstances of the war, such as "Alma Victoria", "Alma Balaklava" and "Alma Inkerman". Primarily in West England, many were christened with the name Alma. The widespread use has been attributed to the extensive news coverage of the Crimean War.

In the Book of Mormon, a collection of fifteen books first published in 1830 that is regarded as scripture by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Alma is given as the name of two characters—a father and his son. The characters are marked by a love for and service of God and appear in the Book of Mosiah and in the Book of Alma.

The name Alma also appears in Irish folklore in the masculine form: the son of Nemed was named "Alma One-Tooth", a noble prince who fought repeatedly for a respite in taxes issued by Conann on his people.

In the 1910 Census (Milan Texas Precinct 7), the name Alma appears within a family descended from Bohemia (or Czechoslovakia, depending on which other document is inspected).

Name statistics
Alma ranked No. 52 of most popular names for girls in the United States in 1901. In birth registers, this constituted .47% of the population, or roughly 1 in every 213 births. Its usage today has dropped into the thousands. It has increased in usage in recent years among parents seeking names with positive meanings for babies born during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In numerology, the name Alma corresponds to the number 9. The characteristics of this value mean compassion, charitableness, and civility; it is regarded as being the "Humanitarian".

Meaning
The name Alma, with its Latin origin, appears in various European languages, and has different meanings in each. These varieties do not generally stray from the notion of the wise, nurturing mother, however.
 * Arabic*Knowing, Knowledgeable, The Unbelievable but True
 * Aramaic*World
 * Azerbaijani*Apple
 * Bashkir*Apple (also the ancient female Bashkir name)
 * Chuvash*Apple (ulma)
 * Crimean Tatar*Apple
 * Finnish*Fruit (hedelmä)
 * Gagauz*Apple
 * Gothic*Working One, Brave One
 * Greek*Leap
 * Hebrew*Maiden, Young woman
 * Hungarian*Apple
 * Irish*Apple (ull)
 * Italian*The Spirit, Soul
 * Kalmyk*Apple (almn)
 * Karachay-Balkar*Apple
 * Karaim*Apple
 * Karakalpak*Apple
 * Kazakh*Apple
 * Komi*Apple (ulmö)
 * Kumyk*Apple
 * Kyrgyz*Apple
 * Latin*The Nourishing One, Kind, Life Giving, Gentle, Loving, Bounteous One and The Spiritually Supportive One
 * Latin*Apple, an arboreal fruit (mālum)
 * Mari*Apple (olma)
 * Mongolian*Apple (Apple in Mongolia "Alim")
 * Nogai*Apple
 * Portuguese*The Spirit, Soul
 * Spanish*The Spirit, Soul
 * Tatar*Apple
 * Turkish*Apple (elma)
 * Turkmen*Apple
 * Udmurt*Apple (ulmo)
 * Urum*Apple
 * Uyghur*Apple
 * Uzbek*Apple (olma)

In the Hebrew Bible, Almah means maiden - a young girl or a young woman. In the Septuagint, the word is often rendered as parthenos ('virgin'), most famously in Isaiah 7:14, which is quoted in Matthew 1:23 as a prophecy about Jesus being born of the Virgin Mary.

Women

 * Alma (Finnish singer), Finnish singer and songwriter
 * Alma (French singer), French singer and songwriter
 * Alma Adams (born 1946), American politician and educator
 * Alma Adamkienė (1927–2023), Lithuanian philologist and philanthropist
 * Alma Alexander (born 1965), American writer
 * Alma Allen (resistance member), Danish resistance member
 * Alma Allen (politician) (born 1939), American politician
 * Alma Åkermark (1853–1933), Swedish feminist
 * Alma Bella (1910–2012), Filipino actress
 * Alma Beltran (1919–2007), Mexican film actress
 * Alma Bennett (1914–1958), American film actress
 * Alma Birk (1917–1996), British journalist and politician
 * Alma W. Byrd (1924–2017), American politician
 * Alma Čardžić (born 1968), Bosnian singer
 * Alma Carroll (1924–2019), American actress
 * Alma Carlisle (born 1927), American architect
 * Alma Cero (born 1975), Mexican actress, singer, television hostess and ballerina
 * Alma Cogan (1932–1966), English singer
 * Alma Cook (Alma; born 1991), American singer
 * Alma Carrie Cummings (1857–1926), American journalist; newspaper editor and proprietor
 * Alma Delfina (born 1960), Mexican actress
 * Alma Denny (1906–2003), American columnist
 * Alma Deutscher (born 2005), English composer and musician
 * Alma Dufour (born 1990), French politician
 * Alma Evans-Freke (1931–2017), New Zealand television personality
 * Alma Fahlstrøm (1863–1946), Norwegian theatre actress, director and manager
 * Alma Francis, American actress and singer
 * Alma Delia Fuentes (1937–2017), Mexican actress
 * Alma Galarza, Puerto Rican singer
 * Alma Garcia (born 1970), American writer
 * Alma Gluck (1884–1938), American opera singer
 * Alma Goatley (1887–1969), British composer
 * Alma Guillermoprieto (born 1949), Mexican journalist
 * Alma Hanlon (1890–1977), American film actress
 * Alma Har'el (born 1975), Israeli-American music video and film director
 * Alma Hernandez, American politician
 * Alma Hinding (1882–1981), Danish film actress
 * Alma Hjelt (1853–1907), Finnish women's rights activist
 * Alma Hunt (1909–2008), American religious leader
 * Alma Jeets (1896–1979), Estonian politician
 * Alma Jodorowsky (born 1991), French actress, model and singer
 * Alma Kar (1908–1992), Polish actress
 * Alma Karlin (1889–1950), Slovene-Austrian author
 * Alma Kruger (1868/1871–1960), American actress
 * Alma Kuula (1884–1941), Finnish singer
 * Alma Lee (1914–2000), Swiss-born naturalized British philatelist
 * Alma Mahler (1879–1964), Austrian socialite and composer
 * Alma Martínez (footballer) (born 1981), Mexican footballer
 * Alma Martinez (actress) (born 1953), American actress
 * Alma McClelland (1921–2000), American poker player
 * Alma Moodie (1898–1943), Australian violinist
 * Alma Moreno (born 1959), Filipina actress and politician
 * Alma Muriel (1951–2014), Mexican actress
 * Alma Murray (1854–1945), English actress
 * Alma Ostra-Oinas (1886–1960), Estonian journalist, writer and politician
 * Alma Pedersen (born 2006), Danish rhythmic gymnast
 * Alma Pihl (1888–1976), Finnish jeweller
 * Alma Powell (born 1937), American audiologist
 * Alma Pöysti (born 1981), Finnish actress
 * Alma Prica (born 1962), Croatian actress
 * Alma Qeramixhi (born 1963), Albanian heptathlete
 * Alma Redlinger (1924–2017), Romanian painter
 * Alma Reville (1899–1982), English film director, screenwriter and editor, wife of Alfred Hitchcock
 * Alma Rosé (1906–1944), Austrian violinist
 * Alma Rubens (1897–1931), American actress
 * Alma Johanna Ruubel (1899–1990), Estonian mathematician and professor
 * Alma Siedhoff-Buscher (1899–1944), Bauhaus trained German designer
 * Alma Söderhjelm (1870–1949), Swedish-Finnish historian
 * Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (1881–1968), American socialite and art collector
 * Alma G. Stallworth (1932–2020), American politician
 * Alma Sundquist (1872–1940), Swedish physician and gynaecologist
 * Alma Taylor (1895–1974), British actress
 * Alma Tell (1898–1937), American actress
 * Alma Thomas (1891–1978), American painter
 * Alma Vītola (born 1992), Latvian long-distance runner
 * Alma Vogt (1925–2006), Australian cricket player
 * Alma Wagen (1878–1967), American mountain climber
 * Alma Bridwell White (1862–1946), American religious leader
 * Alma Zack (born 1970), Israeli actress and comedienne
 * Alma Zadić (born 1984), Austrian politician
 * Alma Ziegler (1918–2005), American baseball player
 * Alma Zohar (born 1977), Israeli musician

Men

 * Alma Allen (artist) (born 1970), American sculptor
 * Alma Hunt (1910–1999), Bermudian and Scottish cricketer
 * Alma Claude Burlton Cull (1880–1931), English painter
 * Alma Richards (1890–1963), American Latter-day Saint high jumper
 * Alma Sonne (1884–1977), American Latter-day Saint general authority
 * Alma O. Taylor (1882–1947), American Latter-day Saint missionary and translator

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints religious figures

 * Alma the Younger, a prophet in the Book of Mormon
 * Alma the Elder, his father, also a prophet

Fictional characters

 * Alma Astryn, in the 2024 film Tarot
 * Alma Armas, in the video game VA-11 Hall-A
 * Alma Beoulve, in the video game Final Fantasy Tactics
 * Alma Bonnet, fictional daughter of the real life Stede and Mary Bonnet in the television series Our Flag Means Death
 * Alma Candela, title character of Alma and How She Got Her Name, a 2018 picture book by Juana Martinez-Neal
 * Alma Coin, in the novel Mockingjay
 * Alma Elson, in the movie Phantom Thread
 * Alma Dray, in the movie Now You See Me
 * Alma Garret, later Ellsworth, in the HBO series Deadwood
 * Alma Gutierrez, in the American television series The Wire
 * Alma Halliwell, in the soap opera Coronation Street
 * Alma Hodge, in the soap opera Desperate Housewives
 * Alma Jinnai, in the Japanese anime Jewelpet Tinkle - see List of Jewelpet Twinkle episodes
 * Alma Karma, an artificial human in the Japanese anime and manga series D.Gray-man
 * Alma Madrigal, from the 2021 Disney film Encanto
 * Alma Montemayor, protagonist of Porque el amor manda
 * Alma LeFay Peregrine, the headmistress in the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children novel series
 * Alma Singer, in the novel The History of Love
 * Alma Wade, an antagonist from the game F.E.A.R.
 * Alma Walker, in the television series American Horror Story: Asylum
 * Alma Whittaker, in the novel The Signature of All Things
 * Alma Winemiller, protagonist of Tennessee Williams' play Summer and Smoke
 * Alma Winograd-Diaz, protagonist of the Amazon Prime series Undone.
 * Alma, main character in Ingmar Bergman's 1966 film Persona
 * Alma, a Greater Fiend from the video game Ninja Gaiden
 * Alma, in the television series The Handmaids Tale
 * Alma, the psi dragonling and soul familiar to Ritcher, in the book series “The Land”
 * Alma, the mother of Historia Reiss in the anime television series and manga Attack on Titan
 * Alma Rivera, the titular character in Alma's Way
 * Alma, the mother of Kamila and the wife of Jowd in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

In language

 * Alumit*English, Hebrew.
 * Amalia*Hebrew, German, Scandinavian, Czech, Hungarian, Italian
 * Almeta, Almetta*African American.
 * Aerma (阿 爾 馬)*Chinese.

Abbreviations for

 * Amelia*English
 * Amelberga*English.