Some critics claim that “Alma” in the Book of Mormon can be explained by the fact that it was a male personal name in the area and time of Joseph Smith. While searching three entries for “Alma” as a male name form 1600 to 1830, the following were the first three hits I got on the familysearch Website:
Alma E. Brooks
(male) (c. 1819-October 24, 1838).
However,
it appears that this is a duplicate record; they are listed
here as a female.
Alma Swift
(1814-November 11, 1873)
However,
again, this appears to be a duplicate record; they are listed again here, but
as a female.
Alma D. Steveses
(June 1830- 1900) - there appears to be no duplicate record here. The
1900 US Census lists them as being a “border” and “m[ale]” at the time.
It
would be interesting to see how many men listed as “Alma” on familysearch are
truly males and not duplicate records. I am not denying Alma was used, even if
rarely, for men in that area and time, but it appears that the results are
skewed by duplicate results, and it appears some are listed as being married to
men with names such as “Amasa.”