Selma

Did you know?

A few things about Selma you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Selma

Selma Blair

American actress (born 1972)

Choose Selma and your child shares a first name with Selma Blair, an American actress. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Selma, like who?” Selma Blair's Wikipedia article is available in 50 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Selma Blair on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 26,316 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Selma, 61 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Selma would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistorySelma has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Selmas, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1891, when it ranked #162. Today it's #2,778, so it could be due a comeback.
• 🍂TrendSelma has slipped 608 places over the last five years and now sits at #2,778. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.

About the name Selma

Selma is a girl name of Arabic, Celtic and English origin. It has 5 letters and 2 syllables, starting with S and ending in “-lma”. US birth records list Selma for girls from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1891, when it ranked #162 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #2,778, with 61 babies.

Origin:Arabic namesCeltic namesEnglish namesGerman namesHindu namesIrish names