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Selah

#216 in 2025Girls' name

From Biblical Hebrew סֶלָה; literal meaning unconfirmed

Selah has been given to 15,394 babies in the U.S. since 1962. In 2025 it ranked #216 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 1,416 recorded.

Babies named Selah, 2025

1 in 2,340

Selah over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05001K1.5K18801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Selah: meaning, origin, and history

From Biblical Hebrew סֶלָה; literal meaning unconfirmed

Hebrew

What Selah means

Selah is a given name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Biblical Hebrew סֶלָה (selāh); according to some scholars, from סָלָה (salah, “to hang”, implying “to weigh”, “to measure”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Selah (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Selah is used in English. Its origins include Hebrew.

Selah comes through Biblical Hebrew סֶלָה.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 15,187 girls were recorded with the name Selah between 1962 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 1,416 in 2025; its best national rank was #216 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #425 in 2020 to #216 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #461 in 2015 to #216 in 2025.

In the United States, 207 boys were recorded with the name Selah between 1998 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 21 in 2024; its best national rank was #4,848 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,560 in 2020 to #6,737 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #10,435 in 2015 to #6,737 in 2025.

How common is Selah?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 2,340
1,416 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 1,140
0.09% of girls
Rank, 2025
#216
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
1,624 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Selah sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 301%
Grade of 1004%
School of 50019%

Put another way: gather 1,624 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Selah. In a class of 30 the chance is 1%.

When Selahs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Selah was born before 2017 — so the typical Selah is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
40.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
95.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
15,187
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 40.7% of all recorded uses (6,176).

Is Selah rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+63
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+209
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+245
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.05×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (1,416)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
9.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#216
2025

Spellings of Selah

Selah is not the most common spelling — Sarah is, with 65.8% against Selah's 0.91%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Selah is used

Across 2016–2025, Selah was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 459 girls, against 1 in 1,569 across all states with data. It was least common in Utah (1 in 7,143).

14218 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 459
  2. 2Montana1 in 709
  3. 3South Dakota1 in 855
  4. 4Idaho1 in 962
  5. 5Indiana1 in 1,010
  6. 6Colorado1 in 1,042
  7. 7South Carolina1 in 1,042
  8. 8Tennessee1 in 1,064

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Selah is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 41% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Selah around the world

Where Selah ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2009–2025
    #2,278
    in 2025
  • France
    2015–2025
    #5,436
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2000–2024
    #619
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1979–1979
    #627
    in 1979

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Selah

People whose public names include Selah, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Selah by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#216
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 209
Best rank ever
#216
2025
Peak year
2025
1,416 that year
First recorded
1962
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
15,187
Count in 2025
1,416

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#6,737
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 177
Best rank ever
#4,848
2024
Peak year
2024
21 that year
First recorded
1998
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
207
Count in 2025
13

Names similar to Selah

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

SelmaSelinaSeleneNylahLilahLylahMylahSelenaKylahJaylahSelinLaylahLailahKaylahMilahAylahNailahSelaLelahLeilahBeulahKamilahZylahAkilah

Names with a curve like Selah

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Selah, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

PhoenixShilohAlayahEvelynnDahliaEliannaLucianaMiraCharliMylaLorelaiAlaya

Sibling names for Selah

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Selah

Top names of 2025, Selah's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Girls' names starting with SBiblical Girl Names