Selma

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Salma in EG Egypt, MA Morocco, US United States and 7 more and סלמה in IL Israel, YE Yemen.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Selma is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Turkish given name824K records spelled Selma15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, United States, Syria, Netherlands

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani, Uzbek

  Also written Şelma, Selmâ, Şeĺmã, Şelmá, Şëlmä

• English given name318K records spelled Selma19 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Norway, Germany

  Languages: English, German, Norwegian Bokmål

  Also written Selmà, Şëlmã, Sélmà, Sèlmā, Sêlmâ

• Finnish given name44K records spelled Selma4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Estonia, Türkiye

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Sèlma, Sëlmã

• Croatian given name11K records spelled Selma50 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, Russia, North Macedonia

  Languages: Croatian, Russian, Czech

  Also written Зельма, Селма, Сельма, Zelma, Зелма

• Indonesian given name2.9K records spelled Selma3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Türkiye, United States, India

  Also written 'Selma, Šeĺma

66 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Selma is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Turkish, 1. Barış içinde bulunma, huzur, erinç. 2. Güzel, hoş kadın.

  as a word·TDK Kişi Adları Sözlüğü (official Turkish given-name dictionary)

• In English, city, AL; pers. name

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In French, Nom germanique ou arabe selon les cas; souvent rattaché à « paix » ou à Selma.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Forme féminine d’Anselme; origine germanique, « protégée du dieu Ans ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• North African Muslim: 'secure'.

  as a name·African Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Selma Lagerlöfb. 1858SESwedish writer (1858–1940)
• Selma Meerbaum-Eisingerb. 1924UAGerman language lyricist and Holocaust victim (1924-1942)
• Sonja Ziemannb. 1926DEnot in their usual nameGerman actress (1926–2020)
• Selma Blairb. 1972USAmerican actress (born 1972)
• Selma Björnsdóttirb. 1974ISIcelandic singer
• Selma Vilhunenb. 1976FIFinnish filmmaker
• Selma Ergeçb. 1978DETurkish-German actor (born 1978)
• Selma Bajramib. 1980BABosnian singer
• Selma Bachab. 2000FRFrench association football player
• Selma El MouissiFRFrench actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,112 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Selma?

We estimate roughly 161 thousand people bear Selma (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Selma have the most bearers?

We estimate about 95 thousand people bear Selma in Brazil, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled selma.

How common is Selma compared with other names?

In Brazil, Selma is the 303rd most common given name of 536,280 given names recorded there.

Is Selma a male or female name?

Selma is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Selma mean?

Recorded meaning: 2 Of uncertain origin, probably a contracted form of Selima.