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Selwyn

#11,770 in 2025Boys' name

Hall + friend

Selwyn has been given to 1,418 babies in the U.S. since 1904. In 2025 it ranked #11,770 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1961, with 38 recorded.

Babies named Selwyn, 2025

1 in 553,000

Selwyn over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Selwyn: meaning, origin, and history

Hall + friend

Old English

What Selwyn means

Selwyn means “hall + friend”, associated with sel and wine.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From the Middle English form of Latin Silvanus. Also from the Old English given name Selewine, from sel (“hall”) + wine (“friend”). The places are named after bearers of the surname.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Selwyn is used in English. Its origins include Old English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Silvanus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,408 boys were recorded with the name Selwyn between 1904 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 38 in 1961; its best national rank was #1,183 in 1904.

Over 10 years its rank fell, from #9,422 in 2015 to #11,770 in 2025.

In the United States, 10 girls were recorded with the name Selwyn between 1924 and 1961. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1924; its best national rank was #5,772 in 1924.

How common is Selwyn?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 285,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#11,770
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Selwyn sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Selwyn. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Selwyns were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Selwyn was born before 1962 — so the typical Selwyn is around 63 today.

Median birth year
1962
About 63 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
18.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
9.5%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
917
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 18.3% of all recorded uses (258).

Is Selwyn 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
−2,911
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,348
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.75×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
15.8%
Peak was 1961 (38)
Years since peak
64
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
31.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,183
1904

Spellings of Selwyn

Selwyn is not the most common spelling — Elwin is, with 21.0% against Selwyn's 5.7%.

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 Selwyn is used

Across 1910–2025, Selwyn was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 215,645 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 100,000
  2. 2Illinois1 in —
  3. 3Texas1 in —
  4. 4Virginia1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Selwyn has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Selwyn around the world

Where Selwyn 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
    1998–2020
    #4,608
    in 2020
  • France
    2008–2008
    #5,543
    in 2008
  • South Australia
    1945–2007
    #680
    in 2007

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

Selwyn by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#11,770
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#1,183
1904
Peak year
1961
38 that year
First recorded
1904
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,408
Count in 2025
6

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,772
1924
Peak year
1924
5 that year
First recorded
1924
Last recorded
1961
All-time count
10
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Selwyn

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

SelvinSelimSelbySeldonDelwynSelmerLlewynRowynSeldenAlwynSelahEdwynElwynMerwynDarwynOwynSelmaCorwynBowynCarwynSelmanSelassieSelasiSelig

Sibling names for Selwyn

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 Selwyn

Top names of 1961, Selwyn's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1904Boys' names starting with SOld English Boy Names