Alma (first name)

Alma is a feminine given name .

Origin and meaning of the name

The name "Alma" has several origins. The Hebrew word עלמה ( Almáh ) means "young woman". It also comes from Italian , where it goes back to the Latin almus (“nourishing”, “fertile”). On the other hand, Alma is a short form of names that have the Gothic component of the name Amal- (“efficient”, “brave”), such as Amalberga .

In addition, this name has the meaning “soul” or “spirit” in Spanish and Portuguese, perhaps also to be understood as something like “mind”. In both countries these words are still used in normal everyday language.

In addition to the above meanings most likely for the origin of the name 'Alma', Alma also means apple (Hungarian, Crimean Tatar, Kazakh), “on the water” (Arabic), “water” (Chadian Arabic) and “the rich” ( in the artificial language "Elvish", JRR Tolkien). In addition, the Alma is a river in the Crimea, an asteroid and two historic car brands.

In antiquity, the goddess of fertility was referred to as the alma mater , which later became a synonym for or part of the name of several universities in allusion to the practiced “spiritual nourishment”. In particular, the University of Vienna is given the Latin name Alma Mater Rudolphina .

name day

The name day is May 23 .

Well-known namesake

• Alma Adamkienė (* 1927), wife of the Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus
• Alma de l'Aigle (1889–1959), German educator, author and rose connoisseur
• Alma del Banco (1863–1943), German painter
• Alma Beltran (1919–2007), Mexican actress
• Alma Cogan (1932–1966), English singer
• Alma Deutscher (* 2005), British composer
• Alma Gluck (1884–1938), American opera singer (soprano)
• Alma von Goethe (1827–1844), daughter August and Ottilie von Goethe and granddaughter Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Alma Guillermoprieto (* 1949), Mexican journalist
• Alma Hadžibeganović (* 1972), Austrian author
• Alma Hagenbucher (1922–2012), German businesswoman
• Alma Karlin (1889–1950), Austrian-Yugoslav journalist
• Alma Kettig (1915–1997), German politician (SPD), resistance fighter, trade unionist and peace activist
• Alma Johanna Koenig (1887–1942), Austrian poet and storyteller of Jewish denomination
• Alma Leiberg (* 1980), German actress and theater actress
• Alma Macrorie (1904–1970), American film editor
• Alma Mahler-Werfel (1879–1964), Austrian-American artist
• Alma-Sofia Miettinen (* 1996), Finnish singer
• Alma Monkauskaitė (1961–2018), Lithuanian doctor and politician
• Alma Motzko (1887–1968), Austrian historian and politician
• Alma Reville (1899–1982), British film editor and screenwriter and wife of Alfred Hitchcock
• Alma Rogge (1894–1969), German writer
• Alma Rosé (1906–1944), Austrian musician
• Alma Routsong (1924–1996), American author
• Alma Rubens (1897–1931), American silent film actress
• Alma Seidler (1899–1977), Austrian actress
• Alma Söderhjelm (1870–1949), Finnish historian and writer
• Alma von Stockhausen (1927–2020), German philosophy professor
• Alma Taylor (1895–1974), British actress
• Alma Wartenberg (1871–1928), German politician (SPD) and women's rights activist
• Alma Zadić (* 1984), Federal Minister for Justice of the Republic of Austria

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rosa and Volker Kohlheim: Duden, Lexicon of first names. 3. Edition. Dudenverlag, Mannheim 1998, ISBN 3-411-04943-X .
2. ↑ Austria lexicon AEIOU.at 17 July, 2009.