Selmer
Selmer was last recorded in 1950, when 5 babies were given it; 769 Americans have been recorded with it between 1887 and 1950 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Selmer by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Selmer?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #4,120, in 1950; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
43 babies in 1916, the peak
Selmer peaked in 1916, when 43 boys were given it, #981 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 5 | #4,120 | 2.8 |
| 1949 | 6 | #3,641 | 3.4 |
| 1948 | 8 | #2,974 | 4.6 |
| 1947 | 7 | #3,327 | 3.8 |
| 1945 | 7 | #2,958 | 5.2 |
| 1944 | 6 | #3,386 | 4.4 |
| 1943 | 9 | #2,711 | 6.3 |
| 1942 | 8 | #2,910 | 5.8 |
| 1941 | 5 | #3,936 | 4.1 |
| 1940 | 7 | #3,093 | 6.0 |
Every recorded year (56)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 6 | #3,432 | 5.4 |
| 1938 | 6 | #3,483 | 5.4 |
| 1937 | 7 | #3,136 | 6.6 |
| 1936 | 12 | #2,160 | 11.6 |
| 1935 | 9 | #2,687 | 8.6 |
| 1934 | 15 | #1,920 | 14.5 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,078 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 9 | #2,813 | 8.6 |
| 1931 | 8 | #3,063 | 7.7 |
| 1930 | 13 | #2,279 | 11.8 |
| 1929 | 14 | #2,184 | 13.0 |
| 1928 | 15 | #2,141 | 13.5 |
| 1927 | 18 | #1,946 | 16.0 |
| 1926 | 18 | #1,899 | 16.2 |
| 1925 | 22 | #1,669 | 19.7 |
| 1924 | 23 | #1,670 | 20.3 |
| 1923 | 28 | #1,414 | 25.5 |
| 1922 | 33 | #1,281 | 30.3 |
| 1921 | 25 | #1,539 | 22.7 |
| 1920 | 26 | #1,493 | 24.4 |
| 1919 | 32 | #1,261 | 32.6 |
| 1918 | 36 | #1,170 | 35.5 |
| 1917 | 27 | #1,358 | 29.2 |
| 1916 | 43 | #981 | 48.3 |
| 1915 | 39 | #1,034 | 46.0 |
| 1914 | 36 | #930 | 55.0 |
| 1913 | 23 | #1,073 | 44.9 |
| 1912 | 13 | #1,409 | 30.2 |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,366 | 35.4 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,142 | 48.8 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,351 | 38.9 |
| 1906 | 8 | #988 | 60.1 |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,398 | 37.8 |
| 1902 | 6 | #1,117 | 48.9 |
| 1901 | 6 | #1,041 | 56.4 |
| 1900 | 8 | #1,036 | 53.2 |
| 1899 | 10 | #707 | 94.2 |
| 1897 | 9 | #780 | 79.8 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,216 | 42.6 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,212 | 43.2 |
| 1893 | 9 | #761 | 80.1 |
| 1892 | 10 | #743 | 81.9 |
| 1891 | 6 | #944 | 59.3 |
| 1890 | 9 | #730 | 81.1 |
| 1888 | 6 | #1,017 | 49.6 |
| 1887 | 6 | #903 | 59.2 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Selmer a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 769 Americans recorded as Selmer, 1% are girls and 99% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Selmer: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Selmer, and how old are they?
An estimated 41 Americans named Selmer and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026, too few to state an age range. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 140 people named Selmer (8 women and girls, 132 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 74 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.9 times 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.
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).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Selmer
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 Selmer and names like it
- Compare Selmer and SpurgeonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sSelmer peaked in 1916.
- Minnesota’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Selmer since 1910.
- The top names of 1916The year the most babies were named Selmer.
- Names starting with SMost given first.