Given name
Ima
“one who is complete; a universal woman”
Ima is a form of Emma. Emma’s shared Germanic element carries the sense “entire” or “whole.”
Original GermanIrma
Meaning & origin
What it means
In German use, Ima carries the interpretation “one who is complete; a universal woman.” Ima is a form of Emma. Emma’s shared Germanic element carries the sense “entire” or “whole.”
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
How it developed
Ima is used as a form of Emma. Ima is a form of Emma. The shared background comes through Emma: Emma was shortened from names containing the element erm(en) or irm(en), such as Ermintrude and Irmgard. Emma’s later use as a pet form of Emily is a separate naming practice, not the explanation of its older origin.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1886. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Ima is a form of Emma. The history of Emma gives this family its wider story. Emma was the name of the mother of Edward the Confessor. That early royal association places it within Britain’s medieval naming history, alongside the wider influence of Norman names.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Ima through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,806
- 0 boys · 6,806 girls
- Most popular year
- 1927
- 232 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #12,403 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 12,403 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 232 in 1927. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,889 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ima’s family of names
Ima is a form of Emma. In Dutch usage, Ima has a conventional equivalent in the German form Irma. Ima has a related form in Imma.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 6
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ima
- Ima HoggAmerican philanthropist and arts patron (1882–1975)
- Ima Shalom1st century CE wife of Eliezer ben Hurcanus, a Mishnaic sage, and sister of Rabban Gamaliel II100
- Ima BohushBelarusian tennis playerborn 1990
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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