Selma

Where Selma comes from

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).
— Wiktionary's entry for Selma
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1858
    Selma Lagerlöf born
    Swedish writer
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #254 among girls — 36 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1891
    Peak, #162
    206 babies named Selma — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1945
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #737.
  5. 1972
    Selma Blair born
    American actress
In the dictionary
  • A female given name.
Namesakes
  • Selma Lagerlöf · Swedish writer, 1858–1940
  • Selma Blair · American actress, born 1972
  • Selma Rıza · Turkish journalist, 1872–1931
  • Selma Ergeç · Turkish-German actor, born 1978
  • Selma Björnsdóttir · Icelandic singer, born 1974

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.