Meaning not yet researched.
Selma: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 61 in 2025. Its best rank was #163 in 1891.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #163 in 1891; #2,810 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Selma in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#2,810 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1891, at #163.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Selma: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 61 girls in 2025. Peak: #163 in 1891 · most girls in one year: 798 (1918).
In 2025, 61 US girls were named Selma, making it the 2,810th most common girls’ name of the year, down 16 places from #2,794 in 2024. That is 0 more than the 61 girls named Selma in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #163, reached in 1891. The most girls given the name in a single year was 798, in 1918. For comparison, it was #2,165 in 2015 and #883 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Selma in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 36 babies with the name. In all, 27,202 US babies have been given the name, 99% of them girls and 1.2% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 6,851 babies named Selma.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 754 US girls were named Selma; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 95. In 2025 that was about 1 in 26,349 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Selma ranked highest in California in 2025, at #2,064 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Zelma (16,936 babies since 1880), Salma (10,316 babies since 1880) and Salome (5,624 babies since 1880). The open nickname list we use links it to Anselm.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Arabic, Dutch, North Germanic, Polish and Turkish. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0).
Selma is listed as a nickname for Anselm.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 49 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 10 | #2,064 | #2,965 |
| Texas | 5 | #3,725 | #2,343 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 61 | #2,810 | — | — |
| 2024 | 61 | #2,794 | — | — |
| 2023 | 74 | #2,439 | — | — |
| 2022 | 63 | #2,749 | — | — |
| 2021 | 63 | #2,748 | — | — |
| 2020 | 83 | #2,191 | — | — |
| 2019 | 87 | #2,152 | — | — |
| 2018 | 79 | #2,325 | — | — |
| 2017 | 88 | #2,179 | — | — |
| 2016 | 95 | #2,081 | — | — |
| 2015 | 88 | #2,165 | — | — |
| 2014 | 109 | #1,865 | — | — |
| 2013 | 82 | #2,278 | — | — |
| 2012 | 72 | #2,542 | — | — |
| 2011 | 96 | #2,040 | — | — |
| 2010 | 86 | #2,252 | — | — |
| 2009 | 87 | #2,266 | — | — |
| 2008 | 90 | #2,217 | — | — |
| 2007 | 100 | #2,054 | — | — |
| 2006 | 103 | #1,955 | — | — |
| 2005 | 117 | #1,702 | — | — |
| 2004 | 118 | #1,653 | — | — |
| 2003 | 96 | #1,911 | — | — |
| 2002 | 74 | #2,248 | — | — |
| 2001 | 90 | #1,937 | — | — |
| 2000 | 81 | #2,049 | — | — |
| 1999 | 70 | #2,178 | — | — |
| 1998 | 64 | #2,236 | — | — |
| 1997 | 54 | #2,445 | — | — |
| 1996 | 42 | #2,889 | — | — |
| 1995 | 32 | #3,480 | — | — |
| 1994 | 22 | #4,661 | — | — |
| 1993 | 17 | #5,633 | — | — |
| 1992 | 32 | #3,481 | — | — |
| 1991 | 30 | #3,618 | — | — |
| 1990 | 35 | #3,211 | — | — |
| 1989 | 24 | #4,102 | — | — |
| 1988 | 26 | #3,668 | — | — |
| 1987 | 19 | #4,440 | — | — |
| 1986 | 27 | #3,340 | — | — |
| 1985 | 11 | #6,365 | — | — |
| 1984 | 19 | #4,136 | — | — |
| 1983 | 19 | #4,084 | — | — |
| 1982 | 27 | #3,238 | — | — |
| 1981 | 28 | #3,131 | — | — |
| 1980 | 25 | #3,395 | — | — |
| 1979 | 19 | #4,011 | — | — |
| 1978 | 22 | #3,483 | — | — |
| 1977 | 26 | #3,060 | — | — |
| 1976 | 20 | #3,506 | — | — |
| 1975 | 21 | #3,378 | — | — |
| 1974 | 17 | #3,829 | — | — |
| 1973 | 26 | #2,731 | — | — |
| 1972 | 23 | #2,962 | — | — |
| 1971 | 37 | #2,207 | — | — |
| 1970 | 40 | #2,073 | — | — |
| 1969 | 35 | #2,165 | — | — |
| 1968 | 34 | #2,083 | — | — |
| 1967 | 40 | #1,877 | — | — |
| 1966 | 54 | #1,527 | — | — |
| 1965 | 91 | #1,107 | — | — |
| 1964 | 63 | #1,432 | — | — |
| 1963 | 66 | #1,369 | — | — |
| 1962 | 89 | #1,165 | — | — |
| 1961 | 116 | #1,010 | 5 | #4,572 |
| 1960 | 93 | #1,130 | — | — |
| 1959 | 91 | #1,125 | — | — |
| 1958 | 90 | #1,117 | 5 | #4,420 |
| 1957 | 105 | #1,025 | — | — |
| 1956 | 115 | #942 | — | — |
| 1955 | 113 | #927 | — | — |
| 1954 | 104 | #951 | 8 | #3,138 |
| 1953 | 118 | #866 | — | — |
| 1952 | 102 | #919 | 5 | #4,188 |
| 1951 | 121 | #816 | 5 | #4,175 |
| 1950 | 102 | #883 | — | — |
| 1949 | 120 | #789 | — | — |
| 1948 | 129 | #752 | 6 | #3,613 |
| 1947 | 140 | #720 | — | — |
| 1946 | 138 | #679 | 5 | #3,948 |
| 1945 | 102 | #740 | 9 | #2,553 |
| 1944 | 128 | #658 | 6 | #3,386 |
| 1943 | 122 | #688 | — | — |
| 1942 | 159 | #589 | — | — |
| 1941 | 144 | #583 | 5 | #3,936 |
| 1940 | 150 | #567 | 6 | #3,416 |
| 1939 | 156 | #534 | 7 | #3,073 |
| 1938 | 188 | #487 | 6 | #3,483 |
| 1937 | 225 | #438 | 6 | #3,476 |
| 1936 | 243 | #414 | 7 | #3,105 |
| 1935 | 212 | #444 | 8 | #2,911 |
| 1934 | 264 | #401 | — | — |
| 1933 | 296 | #371 | 5 | #4,079 |
| 1932 | 326 | #354 | 10 | #2,614 |
| 1931 | 420 | #313 | 12 | #2,311 |
| 1930 | 550 | #273 | 9 | #2,982 |
| 1929 | 563 | #269 | 6 | #3,896 |
| 1928 | 598 | #264 | 11 | #2,626 |
| 1927 | 669 | #253 | 11 | #2,679 |
| 1926 | 671 | #254 | 9 | #3,104 |
| 1925 | 668 | #257 | 10 | #2,905 |
| 1924 | 735 | #246 | 7 | #3,810 |
| 1923 | 703 | #245 | 8 | #3,422 |
| 1922 | 692 | #246 | 9 | #3,212 |
| 1921 | 704 | #251 | 9 | #3,178 |
| 1920 | 768 | #233 | — | — |
| 1919 | 682 | #244 | 14 | #2,245 |
| 1918 | 798 | #223 | 13 | #2,377 |
| 1917 | 786 | #216 | 9 | #2,916 |
| 1916 | 718 | #228 | 10 | #2,705 |
| 1915 | 741 | #217 | 12 | #2,283 |
| 1914 | 587 | #214 | 14 | #1,761 |
| 1913 | 455 | #226 | 5 | #3,196 |
| 1912 | 387 | #230 | 6 | #2,501 |
| 1911 | 321 | #223 | 6 | #1,712 |
| 1910 | 293 | #221 | 6 | #1,559 |
| 1909 | 250 | #225 | 6 | #1,421 |
| 1908 | 257 | #210 | 5 | #1,561 |
| 1907 | 231 | #218 | — | — |
| 1906 | 252 | #193 | — | — |
| 1905 | 224 | #202 | — | — |
| 1904 | 231 | #194 | — | — |
| 1903 | 218 | #194 | — | — |
| 1902 | 252 | #183 | — | — |
| 1901 | 242 | #181 | — | — |
| 1900 | 239 | #201 | — | — |
| 1899 | 206 | #193 | — | — |
| 1898 | 229 | #193 | — | — |
| 1897 | 183 | #205 | — | — |
| 1896 | 238 | #178 | — | — |
| 1895 | 208 | #188 | — | — |
| 1894 | 212 | #183 | — | — |
| 1893 | 211 | #176 | — | — |
| 1892 | 209 | #175 | — | — |
| 1891 | 206 | #163 | — | — |
| 1890 | 165 | #183 | — | — |
| 1889 | 133 | #201 | — | — |
| 1888 | 139 | #190 | — | — |
| 1887 | 97 | #209 | — | — |
| 1886 | 91 | #209 | — | — |
| 1885 | 68 | #245 | — | — |
| 1884 | 63 | #243 | — | — |
| 1883 | 80 | #189 | — | — |
| 1882 | 54 | #237 | — | — |
| 1881 | 47 | #230 | — | — |
| 1880 | 36 | #259 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).