Thelma is a female
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
. It was popularized by Victorian writer
Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel ''
Thelma''. It may be related to a Greek word meaning "will, volition" see ''
thelema'').
Note that although consonant with another female given name,
Selma, the two are not synonymous.
People with the name
*
Thelma Akana Harrison
Thelma Alice Kalaokona Moore Akana Harrison (July 17, 1905 – July 1, 1972) was an American public health nurse and politician who served as a Republican Senator for Oahu in the Hawaii Territorial Legislature. She was the first woman to be r ...
(1905–1972), American politician
*
Thelma Aoyama (born 1987), Japanese pop singer
*
Thelma Barlow (born 1929), English actress
*
Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter (January 15, 1922 – May 14, 1997) was an American jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie ''The Wiz''. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Fred and Mary C ...
(1922–1997), American jazz singer and actress
*
Thelma Cazalet-Keir
Thelma Cazalet-Keir CBE (née Cazalet; 28 May 1899 – 13 January 1989) was a British feminist and Conservative Party politician.
Early life
Thelma Cazalet was born in London, the third child - of four - and only daughter, of William Marshall ...
(1899–1989), British politician
*
Thelma Drake
Thelma Day Drake (born November 20, 1949) is an American politician and former member of Congress for Virginia's 2nd congressional district. A Republican, she served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 to 2009. Prior to serving in C ...
(born 1949), American politician
*
Thelma Eisen (1922–2014), American baseball player
*
Thelma Fardin (born 1992), Argentine actress
*
Thelma Forbes (1910–2012), Canadian politician
*
Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness (1904–1970), mistress of King Edward VIII
*
Thelma Harper (politician)
Thelma Marie Claybrooks Harper (December 2, 1940 – April 22, 2021) was an American politician and the first African-American woman state senator in Tennessee. First elected in 1989, she was the longest-serving female state senator in Tennessee ...
(1940–2021), Tennessee politician
*
Thelma Hill
Thelma Hill (born Thelma Hillerman; December 12, 1906 – May 11, 1938) was an American silent screen comedian and one of the Sennett Bathing Beauties.
Early life
Hill was born Thelma Hillerman on December 12, 1906, in Emporia, Kansas. ...
(1906–1938), American silent screen actress
*
Thelma Holt (born 1932), stage actress and producer
*
Telma Hopkins (born 1948), American singer and actress
*
Thelma Hopkins (athlete) (born 1936), British athlete
*
Thelma Houston (born 1946), American singer
*
Thelma Leeds (1910–2006), American actress
*
Thelma Coyne Long (1918–2015), Australian tennis player
*
Thelma Nava (1932–2019), Mexican poet, magazine co-founder, publisher, journalist
*
Thelma "Pat" Nixon (1912–1993), former First Lady of the United States
*
Thelma Parr (1906–2000), American actress
*
Thelma Pressman (1921–2010), American microwave cooking consultant and cookbook author
*
Thelma Rodgers, Antarctic scientist from New Zealand
*
Thelma Ritter (1902–1969), American actress
*
Thelma Schoonmaker (born 1940), American film editor
*
Thelma Terry (1901–1966), American bandleader
*
Thelma Thall
Thelma Thall “Tybie” Sommer (born 1924) is the only living American woman to have won two World Table Tennis Championships.
She received the USA Table Tennis Lifetime Achievement Award, and is in the Table Tennis Hall of Fame. She says tha ...
(born 1924), American two-time world table tennis champion
*
Thelma Todd (1906–1935), American actress and businesswoman
*
Thelma Toole
John Kennedy Toole (; December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana whose posthumously published novel, ''A Confederacy of Dunces'', won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981; he also wrote ''The N ...
(1901–1984), mother of American author John Kennedy Toole
*
Thelma Votipka (1906–1972), American opera singer
*
Thelma Wood
Thelma Ellen Wood (July 3, 1901 – December 10, 1970) was an American artist, specialising in the traditional fine line drawing technique known as Silverpoint. She was noted for her hectic private life, and her lesbian relationship with Djuna B ...
(1901–1970), American artist and lover of Djuana Barnes
Fictional characters
*
Thelma Bates, from the TV series ''Hex''
*
Thelma Evans, in the sitcom ''Good Times''
*
Thelma Harper, from ''The Carol Burnett Show'' and ''Mama's Family''
*
Thelma Lou, on ''The Andy Griffith Show''
*
Thelma Griffin, from ''Family Guy''
* Thelma Dickinson from the 1991 film ''
Thelma and Louise''
* Thelma, protagonist of the eponymous 2017 film ''
Thelma''
* T.H.E.L.M.A. an android from the Nickelodeon sci-fi series, ''
Space Cases''
* Thelma, a character referred to as "New Thelma" in the ''
Junie B. Jones
''Junie B. Jones'' is a children's book series written by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus. Published by Random House from 1992 to 2013, the story centers on "almost six-year-old" Junie B. Jones and her adventures in kindergarten an ...
'' book series
References
{{Given name
English feminine given names