Selma

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Selma: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Selma: Recorded since 1945, its highest recorded position is #5, and it was still inside the top 100 in 2025.

3registrars recorded it
98times a registrar ranked it
81years from first to last
#5highest recorded position
21groupings it qualifies for
14names it appears alongside

What stands out in Selma's record

Held a top-100 place for 26 years running. Names by top-100 run
Shares a published list with another name across 67 years. Longest shared records

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#3795
1997	#1958
1999	#2444
2000	#1389
2001	#2023
2002	#1245
2003	#1628
2004	#2112
2005	#1082
2006	#1153
2007	#1384
2008	#1093
2009	#2759
2010	#2392
2011	#1608
2012	#2521
2013	#1707
2014	#1501
2015	#1497
2016	#1472
2017	#1219
2018	#2674
2019	#2643
2020	#2163
2021	#2201
2022	#2058
2023	#1705
2024	#2000

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Norway in 67 of the 81 years from 1945 to 2025.

In 2024: #5 among girls in Norway, #2000 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1945–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1945
First recorded at #352 among girls in Norway in 1945 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Girls
Highest recorded1945–2025
Highest recorded position: #5 among girls in Norway, in 2024 (recorded 1945–2025).
Norway · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #11 among girls in Norway, in 2025.
Norway · Girls

Selma appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Girls, which has ranked it in 67 years beginning in 1945, and has registered 5,732 births with the name.

Selma across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Selma's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Girls	#352 (1945)	#5 (2024)	#11 (2025)	67 of 81	5,732 (1945–2025)	292 (2025)
England and Wales · Girls	#3795 (1996)	#1082 (2005)	#2000 (2024)	28 of 29	407 (1996–2024)	28 (2017)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#862 (2008)	#862 (2008)	#896 (2015)	3 of 8	9 (2008–2015)	3 (2008)

Selma by decade in Norway · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Selma in Norway · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1940s	26	4 of 10	7
1950s	43	6 of 10	7
1960s	16	3 of 10	5
1970s	66	8 of 10	8
1980s	112	10 of 10	11
1990s	291	10 of 10	29
2000s	1,743	10 of 10	174
2010s	1,873	10 of 10	187
2020sbusiest	1,562	6 of 10	260

Across Norway · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 260 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2016 and 2017, when recorded births rose by 71, from 158 to 229.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Selma appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #5 in Norway in 2024.

Selma's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#2000	14	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#1705	17	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2058	13	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#2201	12	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#2163	12	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#2643	9	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#2674	9	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#1219	28	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#1472	22	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#1497	21	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#1501	20	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#1707	17	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#2521	10	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#1608	18	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#2392	10	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#2759	8	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#1093	27	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#1384	19	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#1153	23	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#1082	23	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#2112	9	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#1628	12	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#1245	16	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#2023	8	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#1389	13	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#2444	6	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1958	8	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#3795	3	High	Verified
2025	Norway	female	#11	292	High	Verified
2024	Norway	female	#5	291	High	Verified
2023	Norway	female	#8	265	High	Verified
2022	Norway	female	#10	247	High	Verified
2021	Norway	female	#15	226	High	Verified
2020	Norway	female	#9	241	High	Verified
2019	Norway	female	#19	221	High	Verified
2018	Norway	female	#27	179	High	Verified
2017	Norway	female	#16	229	High	Verified
2016	Norway	female	#39	158	High	Verified
2015	Norway	female	#31	177	High	Verified
2014	Norway	female	#32	182	High	Verified
2013	Norway	female	#37	149	High	Verified
2012	Norway	female	#31	181	High	Verified
2011	Norway	female	#32	179	High	Verified
2010	Norway	female	#25	218	High	Verified
2009	Norway	female	#22	230	High	Verified
2008	Norway	female	#21	238	High	Verified
2007	Norway	female	#28	212	High	Verified
2006	Norway	female	#33	196	High	Verified
2005	Norway	female	#29	201	High	Verified
2004	Norway	female	#35	172	High	Verified
2003	Norway	female	#41	156	High	Verified
2002	Norway	female	#50	141	High	Verified
2001	Norway	female	#55	123	High	Verified
2000	Norway	female	#94	74	High	Verified
1999	Norway	female	#127	52	High	Verified
1998	Norway	female	#148	43	High	Verified
1997	Norway	female	#152	44	High	Verified
1996	Norway	female	#159	40	High	Verified
1995	Norway	female	#159	41	High	Verified
1994	Norway	female	#284	16	High	Verified
1993	Norway	female	#313	15	High	Verified
1992	Norway	female	#281	17	High	Verified
1991	Norway	female	#347	13	High	Verified
1990	Norway	female	#423	10	High	Verified
1989	Norway	female	#363	13	High	Verified
1988	Norway	female	#342	14	High	Verified
1987	Norway	female	#470	9	High	Verified
1986	Norway	female	#420	10	High	Verified
1985	Norway	female	#430	10	High	Verified
1984	Norway	female	#351	13	High	Verified
1983	Norway	female	#370	11	High	Verified
1982	Norway	female	#380	11	High	Verified
1981	Norway	female	#346	12	High	Verified
1980	Norway	female	#428	9	High	Verified
1979	Norway	female	#308	14	High	Verified
1978	Norway	female	#406	9	High	Verified
1977	Norway	female	#323	13	High	Verified
1976	Norway	female	#628	4	High	Verified
1975	Norway	female	#483	7	High	Verified
1974	Norway	female	#523	6	High	Verified
1973	Norway	female	#507	6	High	Verified
1972	Norway	female	#489	7	High	Verified
1969	Norway	female	#470	6	High	Verified
1963	Norway	female	#529	4	High	Verified
1962	Norway	female	#426	6	High	Verified
1957	Norway	female	#433	5	High	Verified
1956	Norway	female	#295	10	High	Verified
1955	Norway	female	#337	8	High	Verified
1954	Norway	female	#409	5	High	Verified
1953	Norway	female	#434	4	High	Verified
1950	Norway	female	#267	11	High	Verified
1949	Norway	female	#374	5	High	Verified
1948	Norway	female	#313	8	High	Verified
1947	Norway	female	#315	8	High	Verified
1945	Norway	female	#352	5	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	female	#896	3	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	female	#907	3	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#862	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1945 and 2025, ranked in 67 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #5, first reached in 2024.

It held a top-100 place in 26 years, 26 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 292 births, registered in Norway in 2025.

1 registrar ranked it inside their own top 10.

Its record falls into 6 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 5 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 63 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Selina · #166, 58y
Seline · #284, 35y
Selmer · #172, 22y
Sema · #2096, 22y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Anette · #5, 69y
Karoline · #5, 64y
Marius · #4, 71y
Aisling · #8, 62y

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1940 and 1949.

Alma · #5, 72y
Anette · #5, 69y
Arne · #5, 81y
Elizabeth · #5, 81y

Comparisons involving Selma

Existing comparison pages where Selma and another name were ranked in the same published list, in the same years, on the same scale. Each has its own evidence; none of them says the names are alike.

Longest shared records

Names ranked alongside Selma in the same published list across at least 25 years.

Heidi vs Selma
Over 67 shared years in Norway · Girls, Selma rose about as far as Heidi fell — from #188 and #352 in 1945 to #437 and #11 in 2025.
Heidi · Selma · 67 shared years, 1945–2025 · Mirrored each other
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Kristin vs Selma
Over 67 shared years in Norway · Girls, Selma rose about as far as Kristin fell — from #130 and #352 in 1945 to #251 and #11 in 2025.
Kristin · Selma · 67 shared years, 1945–2025 · Mirrored each other
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Selma vs Solveig
Over 67 shared years in Norway · Girls, Selma rose about as far as Solveig fell — from #352 and #14 in 1945 to #11 and #28 in 2025.
Selma · Solveig · 67 shared years, 1945–2025 · Mirrored each other
See the 2025 Norway ranking

Order changes

Pairs where Selma and another name exchanged position in a published list, taken as the final meaningful change.

Selma vs Ada
In 2024, Selma moved ahead of Ada in Norway · Girls — #8 and #6 the year before became #5 and #16.
Selma · Ada · 64 shared years, 1945–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2024 Norway ranking

Compared inside Norway lists

Pairs involving Selma measured in Norway's own published lists — the registrar that recorded Selma at its highest position.

Selma vs Hanne
Over 66 shared years in Norway · Girls, Selma rose about as far as Hanne fell — from #352 and #123 in 1945 to #11 and #318 in 2025.
Selma · Hanne · 66 shared years, 1945–2025 · Mirrored each other
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Christine vs Selma
Over 64 shared years in Norway · Girls, Selma rose about as far as Christine fell — from #253 and #352 in 1945 to #498 and #11 in 2025.
Christine · Selma · 64 shared years, 1945–2025 · Mirrored each other
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Monica vs Selma
Over 55 shared years in Norway · Girls, Selma rose about as far as Monica fell — from #247 and #315 in 1947 to #542 and #16 in 2017.
Monica · Selma · 55 shared years, 1947–2017 · Mirrored each other
See the 2017 Norway ranking

Norway overview→

Selma was ranked #5 in Norway · Girls in 2024. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Selma and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Selma without appearing here.

Selma moved ahead of

Cheryl Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2643 and #2286 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #2163 and #5493.
Kai Compare
In 2009 they stood at #2759 and #2326 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2010 that had become #2392 and #5707.
Kerry Compare
In 2012 they stood at #2521 and #2215 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #1707 and #4739.
Kirsten Compare
In 2018 they stood at #2674 and #1977 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2019 that had become #2643 and #5591.

Moved ahead of Selma

Harper Compare
In 2008 they stood at #1093 and #1391 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #2759 and #1171.
Ezra Compare
In 2017 they stood at #1219 and #1411 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #2674 and #1234.
Fiadh Compare
In 2017 they stood at #1219 and #2502 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #2674 and #1436.
Frida Compare
In 2008 they stood at #1093 and #1247 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #2759 and #1526.

Moved the opposite way to Selma

Åse Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 while Åse went from #25 to #93.
Aud Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 while Aud went from #13 to #427.
Bjørg Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 while Bjørg went from #6 to #369.
Eileen Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 while Eileen went from #324 to #501.

Moved the same way as Selma

Elise Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 and Elise from #223 to #63.
Ella Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 and Ella from #137 to #4.
Ellinor Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 and Ellinor from #102 to #7.
Emma Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Selma went from #352 to #11 and Emma from #342 to #1.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #5 in Norway in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Selma

Selma at a glance

What stands out in Selma's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Selma across 3 official records

Selma by decade in Norway · Girls

Selma appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Selma

Longest shared records

Order changes

Compared inside Norway lists

Names published alongside Selma

Selma and the names beside it

Selma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Selma

Moved the opposite way to Selma

Moved the same way as Selma

Selma at a glance

What stands out in Selma's record

Selma across 3 official records

Selma by decade in Norway · Girls

Selma appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Selma

Longest shared records

Order changes

Compared inside Norway lists

Names published alongside Selma

Selma and the names beside it

Selma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Selma

Moved the opposite way to Selma

Moved the same way as Selma