Herma

History & Origin

Herma is a vintage feminine name, most often a short form of Hermine or Herminia, which are feminine forms of Herman, from Germanic elements meaning 'army' and 'man'. The sound also echoes the Greek Hermes and the related name Erma. It saw modest use among German-American and other families in the early twentieth century.

Herma was never common, given to only a few dozen girls a year around its faint peak near 1918 before fading by mid-century. Someone named Herma then would be elderly or passed on now, so the name reads as a genuinely old-fashioned choice that has not returned in the recent vintage revival.