Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel Thelma. Although the character was supposed to be Norwegian, it is not a traditional Scandinavian name. 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.
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People with the name
Thelma Akana Harrison (1905–1972), American politician
Thelma Aoyama (born 1987), Japanese pop singer
Thelma Dís Ágústsdóttir (born 1998), Icelandic basketball player
Thelma Barlow (born 1929), English actress
Thelma Carpenter (1922–1997), American jazz singer and actress
Thelma Cazalet-Keir (1899–1989), British politician
Thelma Drake (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) (1940–2021), Tennessee politician
Thelma Hill (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) (1936–2025), Northern Irish athlete
Thelma Houston (born 1943), 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), 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, (1947–2021), Antarctic scientist from New Zealand
Thelma Ritter (1902–1969), American actress
Thelma Ruby (born 1925), British actress
Thelma Schoonmaker (born 1940), American film editor
Thelma Terry (1901–1966), American bandleader
Thelma Thall (born 1924), American two-time world table tennis champion
Thelma Todd (1906–1935), American actress and businesswoman
Thelma Toole (1901–1984), mother of American author John Kennedy Toole
Thelma Van Norte (1912–1985), American medical records librarian
Thelma Votipka (1906–1972), American opera singer
Thelma Wood (1901–1970), American artist and lover of Djuana Barnes
Thelma (musician), American musician
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 Cates, in 'night, Mother
Thelma, protagonist of the eponymous 2017 film Thelma
T.H.E.L.M.A. (Techno Human EmuLating MAchine) an android from the Nickelodeon sci-fi series, Space Cases
Thelma, a character referred to as "New Thelma" in the Junie B. Jones book series
Thelma "Thel" Keane, sometimes known as "Mommy", from The Family Circus
Thelma Post, protagonist of the eponymous 2024 film Thelma