# Anselm (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/anselm/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “god”, “helmet” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈænˌsɛlm/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Anselma |
| US babies named this | 304 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 304 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 15, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ansuz (“god”) + Old High German hëlm (“helmet”).

## What it means

Anselm is grouped under god.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6 | 10,848 |
| 2012 | 7 | 9,773 |
| 2013 | 9 | 8,151 |
| 2014 | 8 | 8,840 |
| 2015 | 9 | 8,075 |
| 2016 | 12 | 6,748 |
| 2017 | 8 | 8,898 |
| 2018 | 8 | 8,877 |
| 2019 | 6 | 10,896 |
| 2020 | 10 | 7,541 |
| 2021 | 5 | 12,270 |
| 2022 | 10 | 7,798 |
| 2023 | 8 | 8,980 |
| 2024 | 7 | 9,973 |
| 2025 | 9 | 8,307 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 4 | 3,687 |
| 2009 | 4 | 3,744 |
| 2011 | 4 | 3,830 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,119 |

## In other languages

- Catalan: Anselm
- Dutch: Anselmus
- Esperanto: Anselmo
- Finnish: Anselmi
- French: Anselme
- German: Anselm
- Greek: Ανσέλμος
- Hungarian: Anzelm
- Irish: Ainseilm
- Italian: Anselmo
- Latin: Anselmus
- Polish: Anzelm
- Portuguese: Anselmo
- Romanian: Anselm
- Spanish: Anselmo

## People named Anselm

- Anselm of Canterbury, 11th‑century Benedictine monk, Archbishop of Canterbury, philosopher and theologian
- Anselm Feuerbach, German painter (1829–1880)
- Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach, German legal scholar (1775-1833)
- Anselm Grün, German Benedictine padre and author
- Anselm Hüttenbrenner, Austrian composer (1794–1868)
- Anselm Strauss, American sociologist (1916-1996)
- Joseph Anselm Feuerbach, German archaeologist (1798-1851)
- Anselm von Rothschild, Austrian banker and art collector in Vienna (1803-1874)
- Anselm Hollo, Finnish poet
- Anselm Franz, Austrian engineer (1900–1994)
- Anselm J. McLaurin, American politician (1848–1909)
- Josep Anselm Clavé, Catalan businessperson, composer and writer (1824-1874)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.