Erma

  • [ UR-mə ]
  • English
Variant of IRMA. It began to be used in the English-speaking world in the 19th century, along with Irma.

IRMA   female   German, English, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Lithuanian, Hungarian (Rare), Ancient Germanic
German short form of names beginning with the Germanic element ermen, which meant "whole, universal". It is thus related to EMMA. It began to be regularly used in the English-speaking world in the 19th century.
EMMA   female   English, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Dutch, German, Ancient Germanic
Originally a short form of Germanic names that began with the element ermen meaning "whole" or "universal". It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of king Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of king Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian saint, who is sometimes called Hemma.

After the Norman conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's poem 'Henry and Emma' (1709). It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel 'Emma' (1816).
EQUIVALENTS
ANCIENT GERMANIC: Emma, Ima, Irma
CROATIAN: Ema
CZECH: Ema
DANISH: Emma
DUTCH: Emma, Ima, Irma
ENGLISH: Emma, Emmalyn, Irma
FINNISH: Emma, Irma
FRENCH: Emma
GEORGIAN: Irma
GERMAN: Emma, Irma
HUNGARIAN: Irma
ICELANDIC: Emma
ITALIAN: Emma, Irma
LITHUANIAN: Irma
NORWEGIAN: Emma
PORTUGUESE: Ema
SLOVAK: Ema
SLOVENE: Ema
SPANISH: Ema, Emma, Irma
SWEDISH: Emma
DIMINUTIVES AND SHORT FORMS
DUTCH: Emmy
ENGLISH: Em, Emmie, Emmy
FINNISH: Emmi
HUNGARIAN: Irmuska
OTHER FORMS
ANCIENT GERMANIC: Arminius
ENGLISH: Emmet, Emmett
GERMAN: Armin