MEANING & HISTORY
What does Selma mean?
Selma has separate European and Turkish naming histories. In European use it may be a shortened form of Anselma or have been encouraged by the castle name in Macpherson’s Ossian poems.
The evidence does not support assigning that entire group one secure lexical translation. Turkish Selma, on the other hand, is a form of Arabic Salma and belongs to a different name family. A Philippine spelling alone does not identify which tradition was intended.
The useful explanation names those routes explicitly, rather than combining a poetic place-name interpretation with an Arabic meaning into a single invented phrase.
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ˈselma/Standard-Tagalog
- [ˈsɛl.mɐ]Standard-Tagalog
Sel · ma2 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from English, from various similar-sounding female given names.
a female given name from English
EnglishEtymology & source
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).
A female given name.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Selma in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Selma
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Delma·Familiar form of Adelma or Fidelma
- Elma♀Short form associated with Wilhelmina or Guglielma
- Salma·Safe or sound in Arabic
- Alma♀Nourishing or kind in the Latin interpretation
- Anselma♀God and helmet; feminine form of Anselm
- Selena♀Moon; Latinized form of Selene
- Thelma♀Literary name associated with Greek will
- Vilma♀Form of Wilma, in the William family
What rhymes with Selma?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Selma further
Follow the sources
- Wiktionary contributors — Selma (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Selma (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — selma-1 (opens in a new tab)
Uncertain European routes Anselma or Ossian castle. Consulted editorial entry, not user-submitted content.
- Behind the Name — selma-2 (opens in a new tab)
Distinct Turkish form of Salma. Consulted editorial entry, not user-submitted content.