Selah

Where Selah comes from

Biblical Hebrew סֶלָה (selāh); according to some scholars, from סָלָה (salah, “to hang”, implying “to weigh”, “to measure”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Selah
Along the way
  1. 1792
    Selah B. Strong born
    American politician
  2. 1797
    Selah R. Hobbie born
    American politician
  3. 1962
    First appearance
    #5,860 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  4. 2025
    Peak, #216
    1,416 babies named Selah — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Hebrew derived from the Biblical interjection (possibly mistaken for a name).
Namesakes
  • Selah B. Strong · American politician, 1792–1872
  • Selah R. Hobbie · American politician, 1797–1854
  • Selah Merrill · American clergyman, 1837–1909
  • Selah Tuthill · American politician, 1771–1821
  • Selah Jepleting Busienei · Kenyan athletics competitor, born 1991

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.