Selma
Selma was given to 61 girls in 2025, #2,810 among girls’ names; 27,202 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,950 Americans named Selma and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (22% of everyone recorded); the median is 53 years old and half are between 19 and 76.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Selma by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Selma mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Selma is “a female given name.”
Taken to use in the 19th century when similar-sounding names, Elma, Thelma, Alma, Wilma, etc. were in vogue. Perhaps a shortening of Anselma, or from the name of a place in the James Macpherson’s Ossian cycle of epic poems, itself from Scottish Gaelic sealladh + math (“good vision”). In some cases perhaps borrowed from Turkish Selma, from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).
/ˈsɛlmə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Selma?
#2,810 among girls’ names, 2025
Selma fell from #2,165 in 2015 to #2,810 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 49.3 to 38.0 per million.
811 babies in 1918, the peak
Selma peaked in 1918, when 811 babies were given it (798 girls, #223 among girls’ names). The 61 births of 2025 are 8% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 61 | #2,810 | 0.04 |
| 2024 | 61 | #2,794 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 74 | #2,439 | 0.05 |
| 2022 | 63 | #2,749 | 0.04 |
| 2021 | 63 | #2,748 | 0.04 |
| 2020 | 83 | #2,191 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 87 | #2,152 | 0.05 |
| 2018 | 79 | #2,325 | 0.05 |
| 2017 | 88 | #2,179 | 0.05 |
| 2016 | 95 | #2,081 | 0.05 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 88 | #2,165 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 109 | #1,865 | 0.06 |
| 2013 | 82 | #2,278 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 72 | #2,542 | 0.04 |
| 2011 | 96 | #2,040 | 0.05 |
| 2010 | 86 | #2,252 | 0.05 |
| 2009 | 87 | #2,266 | 0.05 |
| 2008 | 90 | #2,217 | 0.05 |
| 2007 | 100 | #2,054 | 0.05 |
| 2006 | 103 | #1,955 | 0.05 |
| 2005 | 117 | #1,701 | 0.06 |
| 2004 | 118 | #1,652 | 0.06 |
| 2003 | 96 | #1,910 | 0.05 |
| 2002 | 74 | #2,245 | 0.04 |
| 2001 | 90 | #1,933 | 0.05 |
| 2000 | 81 | #2,045 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 70 | #2,175 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 64 | #2,233 | 0.04 |
| 1997 | 54 | #2,442 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 42 | #2,884 | 0.02 |
| 1995 | 32 | #3,475 | 0.02 |
| 1994 | 22 | #4,656 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 17 | #5,627 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 32 | #3,476 | 0.02 |
| 1991 | 30 | #3,612 | 0.02 |
| 1990 | 35 | #3,206 | 0.02 |
| 1989 | 24 | #4,096 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 26 | #3,663 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 19 | #4,437 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 27 | #3,338 | 0.02 |
| 1985 | 11 | #6,363 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 19 | #4,135 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 19 | #4,083 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 27 | #3,237 | 0.02 |
| 1981 | 28 | #3,131 | 0.02 |
| 1980 | 25 | #3,395 | 0.02 |
| 1979 | 19 | #4,010 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 22 | #3,483 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 26 | #3,059 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 20 | #3,505 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 21 | #3,378 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 17 | #3,828 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 26 | #2,731 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 23 | #2,962 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 37 | #2,207 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 40 | #2,073 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 35 | #2,165 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 34 | #2,083 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 40 | #1,877 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 54 | #1,527 | 0.03 |
| 1965 | 91 | #1,107 | 0.05 |
| 1964 | 63 | #1,432 | 0.03 |
| 1963 | 66 | #1,369 | 0.03 |
| 1962 | 89 | #1,165 | 0.05 |
| 1961 | 116 | #1,010 | 0.06 |
| 1960 | 93 | #1,129 | 0.05 |
| 1959 | 91 | #1,124 | 0.04 |
| 1958 | 90 | #1,116 | 0.04 |
| 1957 | 105 | #1,024 | 0.05 |
| 1956 | 115 | #941 | 0.06 |
| 1955 | 113 | #926 | 0.06 |
| 1954 | 104 | #950 | 0.05 |
| 1953 | 118 | #865 | 0.06 |
| 1952 | 102 | #918 | 0.06 |
| 1951 | 121 | #815 | 0.07 |
| 1950 | 102 | #882 | 0.06 |
| 1949 | 120 | #788 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 129 | #751 | 0.08 |
| 1947 | 140 | #719 | 0.08 |
| 1946 | 138 | #679 | 0.09 |
| 1945 | 102 | #740 | 0.08 |
| 1944 | 128 | #658 | 0.10 |
| 1943 | 122 | #688 | 0.09 |
| 1942 | 159 | #589 | 0.12 |
| 1941 | 144 | #583 | 0.12 |
| 1940 | 150 | #567 | 0.13 |
| 1939 | 156 | #534 | 0.14 |
| 1938 | 188 | #487 | 0.17 |
| 1937 | 225 | #438 | 0.21 |
| 1936 | 243 | #414 | 0.23 |
| 1935 | 212 | #444 | 0.20 |
| 1934 | 264 | #401 | 0.25 |
| 1933 | 296 | #371 | 0.29 |
| 1932 | 326 | #354 | 0.31 |
| 1931 | 420 | #313 | 0.39 |
| 1930 | 550 | #273 | 0.49 |
| 1929 | 563 | #269 | 0.50 |
| 1928 | 598 | #264 | 0.52 |
| 1927 | 669 | #253 | 0.56 |
| 1926 | 671 | #254 | 0.57 |
| 1925 | 668 | #257 | 0.55 |
| 1924 | 735 | #246 | 0.59 |
| 1923 | 703 | #245 | 0.58 |
| 1922 | 692 | #246 | 0.58 |
| 1921 | 704 | #251 | 0.57 |
| 1920 | 768 | #233 | 0.64 |
| 1919 | 682 | #244 | 0.60 |
| 1918 | 798 | #223 | 0.69 |
| 1917 | 786 | #216 | 0.73 |
| 1916 | 718 | #228 | 0.69 |
| 1915 | 741 | #217 | 0.75 |
| 1914 | 587 | #214 | 0.77 |
| 1913 | 455 | #226 | 0.73 |
| 1912 | 387 | #230 | 0.69 |
| 1911 | 321 | #223 | 0.77 |
| 1910 | 293 | #221 | 0.74 |
| 1909 | 250 | #225 | 0.72 |
| 1908 | 257 | #210 | 0.77 |
| 1907 | 231 | #218 | 0.73 |
| 1906 | 252 | #193 | 0.85 |
| 1905 | 224 | #202 | 0.77 |
| 1904 | 231 | #194 | 0.84 |
| 1903 | 218 | #194 | 0.83 |
| 1902 | 252 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 1901 | 242 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 1900 | 239 | #201 | 0.80 |
| 1899 | 206 | #193 | 0.88 |
| 1898 | 229 | #193 | 0.88 |
| 1897 | 183 | #205 | 0.78 |
| 1896 | 238 | #178 | 1.0 |
| 1895 | 208 | #188 | 0.89 |
| 1894 | 212 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 1893 | 211 | #176 | 1.0 |
| 1892 | 209 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1891 | 206 | #163 | 1.1 |
| 1890 | 165 | #183 | 0.87 |
| 1889 | 133 | #201 | 0.75 |
| 1888 | 139 | #190 | 0.78 |
| 1887 | 97 | #209 | 0.66 |
| 1886 | 91 | #209 | 0.63 |
| 1885 | 68 | #245 | 0.51 |
| 1884 | 63 | #243 | 0.49 |
| 1883 | 80 | #189 | 0.71 |
| 1882 | 54 | #237 | 0.50 |
| 1881 | 47 | #230 | 0.51 |
| 1880 | 36 | #259 | 0.40 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Selma a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 27,202 Americans recorded as Selma, 99% are girls and 1% boys. In 2025 it went to 61 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Selma: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Selma, and how old are they?
5,950 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 22% of the 27,202 Americans ever recorded as Selma. The median Selma alive today is 53 years old; half are between 19 and 76.
The 2020 Census counted 9,055 people named Selma (8,955 women and girls, 100 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 7,031 born in the U.S. The Census count is 29% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,020 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,560 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 487 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 399 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,380 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,030 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Selma born?
The states with the most babies named Selma are New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, with 43% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 4,726 | not ranked | 2.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,344 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Texas | 1,235 | #3,725 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 878 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| California | 756 | #2,064 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 707 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Massachusetts | 652 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| New Jersey | 649 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 468 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Minnesota | 412 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Selma is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Selma is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 2.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Selma with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 27,257 babies since 1880, Selma is the most given (100% of them). In 2025 it was given to 61 of their 66 babies (92%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Selma
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Selma and names like it
- Compare Selma and SelimaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sSelma peaked in 1918.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Selma since 1910.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Selma.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Selma alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with SMost given first.