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Selene

#623 in 2025Girls' name

Light

Selene has been given to 9,718 babies in the U.S. since 1919. In 2025 it ranked #623 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 469 recorded.

Babies named Selene, 2025

1 in 7,070

Selene over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Selene: meaning, origin, and history

Light

Ancient Greek

What Selene means

Selene means “light”, associated with sélas.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From the Ancient Greek Σελήνη (Selḗnē, proper noun), from σέλας (sélas, “light”).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Selene is used in English and Italian. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Selene comes through Ancient Greek Σελήνη.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Selena.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Selene is pronounced /səˈlini/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,713 girls were recorded with the name Selene between 1919 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 469 in 2025; its best national rank was #623 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #805 in 2020 to #623 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,180 in 2015 to #623 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Selene between 1991 and 1991. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1991; its best national rank was #9,376 in 1991.

How common is Selene?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 7,070
469 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 3,430
0.03% of girls
Rank, 2025
#623
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
4,901 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Selene 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 30Under 1%
Grade of 1001%
School of 5007%

Put another way: gather 4,901 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Selene. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Selenes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Selene was born before 2009 — so the typical Selene is around 16 today.

Median birth year
2009
About 16 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
25.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
65.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
9,594
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 25.3% of all recorded uses (2,455).

Is Selene 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
+52
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+182
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+557
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.19×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (469)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#623
2025

Spellings of Selene

Selene is not the most common spelling — Helen is, with 61.5% against Selene's 0.58%.

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 Selene is used

Across 2016–2025, Selene was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 2,326 girls, against 1 in 4,047 across all states with data. It was least common in South Carolina (1 in 33,333).

343 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 2,326
  2. 2Florida1 in 3,030
  3. 3Arizona1 in 3,125
  4. 4Nevada1 in 3,125
  5. 5Washington1 in 3,125
  6. 6Texas1 in 3,333
  7. 7New Mexico1 in 3,571
  8. 8New York1 in 3,704

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, Selene is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 50% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Selene around the world

Where Selene 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
    1996–2025
    #951
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2019–2021
    #792
    in 2021
  • Ireland
    1977–1979
    #467
    in 1979
  • France
    1987–2025
    #478
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #835
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1972–2008
    #796
    in 2008

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

Notable people named Selene

People whose public names include Selene, 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.

Selene in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Selene. Linked forms have their own page here.

CeleneSelenaSeline

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Selene by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#623
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 182
Best rank ever
#623
2025
Peak year
2025
469 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,713
Count in 2025
469

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,376
1991
Peak year
1991
5 that year
First recorded
1991
Last recorded
1991
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Selene

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

SelinaSelahAlleneSelmaSelenaJayleneAleneSereneAdileneCarleneHeleneJoleneIleneLoreneKayleneDoreneAileneEileneSelineRayleneCeleneSharleneSelinImogene

Names with a curve like Selene

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

RivkaXiomaraVioletaTreasureSamiraDaniReinaKhadijaMalkaMarenQuincyAnais

Sibling names for Selene

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 Selene

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