# Selma (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/selma/  
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 | girls |
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Meaning | “good vision” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsɛlmə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Zelma |
| US babies named this | 27,202 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 321 / 26,881 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 419, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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).

## 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, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 96 | 2,040 |
| 2012 | 72 | 2,542 |
| 2013 | 82 | 2,278 |
| 2014 | 109 | 1,865 |
| 2015 | 88 | 2,165 |
| 2016 | 95 | 2,081 |
| 2017 | 88 | 2,179 |
| 2018 | 79 | 2,325 |
| 2019 | 87 | 2,152 |
| 2020 | 83 | 2,191 |
| 2021 | 63 | 2,748 |
| 2022 | 63 | 2,749 |
| 2023 | 74 | 2,439 |
| 2024 | 61 | 2,794 |
| 2025 | 61 | 2,810 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | 7 | 3,105 |
| 1937 | 6 | 3,476 |
| 1938 | 6 | 3,483 |
| 1939 | 7 | 3,073 |
| 1940 | 6 | 3,416 |
| 1941 | 5 | 3,936 |
| 1944 | 6 | 3,386 |
| 1945 | 9 | 2,553 |
| 1946 | 5 | 3,948 |
| 1948 | 6 | 3,613 |
| 1951 | 5 | 4,175 |
| 1952 | 5 | 4,188 |
| 1954 | 8 | 3,138 |
| 1958 | 5 | 4,420 |
| 1961 | 5 | 4,572 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 18 | 1,608 |
| 2012 | 10 | 2,521 |
| 2013 | 17 | 1,707 |
| 2014 | 20 | 1,501 |
| 2015 | 21 | 1,497 |
| 2016 | 22 | 1,472 |
| 2017 | 28 | 1,219 |
| 2018 | 9 | 2,674 |
| 2019 | 9 | 2,643 |
| 2020 | 12 | 2,163 |
| 2021 | 12 | 2,201 |
| 2022 | 13 | 2,058 |
| 2023 | 17 | 1,705 |
| 2024 | 14 | 2,000 |
| 2025 | 12 | 2,278 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: سَلْمَى
- Chinese: 塞爾瑪 /塞尔玛
- Danish: Selma
- Finnish: Selma
- Icelandic: Selma
- Norwegian: Selma
- Portuguese: Selma
- Russian: Сельма, Сальма
- Spanish: Salma
- Swedish: Selma
- Turkish: Selma

## People named Selma

- Selma Blair, American actress (born 1972)
- Selma Bacha, French association football player
- Selma James, American feminist
- Selma Bajrami, Bosnian singer
- Selma Engel-Wijnberg, Dutch Holocaust survivor (1922–2018)
- Selma Poutsma, French-Dutch speed skater
- Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, German language lyricist and Holocaust victim (1924-1942)
- Selma Vilhunen, Finnish filmmaker
- Selma Barkham, Canadian historian and geoographer
- Selma Diamond, Comedian, writer (1920–1985)
- Selma Selman, American, Bosnian and Roma artist, cultural and social activist, living between NYC and Bi
- Selma Burke, American sculptor (1900-1995)

## 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.