Meaning and background
The story behind Irma
Irma has a German short-name history built around an older element meaning whole or great. Behind the Name links it with names beginning in irmin and notes a relationship with Emma. It also records its regular English-language use from the nineteenth century. This account gives Irma a specific Germanic name-family background; the spelling need not be treated as an acronym or an invented modern word.
- Origin
- German short form of names beginning with the irmin element, whole or great; related to Emma. Source
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About Irma
Recorded as a dog’s name
Irma appears in 3 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/ɝmə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/ɝmə/ · primary stress on syllable 1ER1 M AH0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.