Baby Names US
girls' name ★ peaked 2025

Selah

Meaning to hang Gender Girl · 1% boys Rank 2025 #216 Trend ↑ Rising 72%

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

Rank 2025
#216
among girls · ↑63 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
1,429
named Selah · +24% vs 2024
How common
1 in 1,135
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2025
1,429 babies
All-time total
15,394
#1,276 all-time among girls
First recorded
1962
in Social Security records

Selah popularity over time

15,394 babies have been named Selah since 1962, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.250.50.75118801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – – – – – –
1920s – – – – – –
1930s – – – – – –
1940s – – – – – –
1950s – – – – – –
1960s 11 – 11 1 – #6,443
1970s 55 – 55 6 +400% #4,874
1980s 104 – 104 10 +89% #4,491
1990s 347 12 359 36 +245% #1,665
2000s 2,482 48 2,530 253 +605% #695
2010s 6,176 71 6,247 625 +147% #432
2020s (to 2025) 6,012 76 6,088 1,015 +62% #216

Where Selah is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 1,547 0.96 #200
2027 1,668 1.04 #188
2028 1,778 1.11 #174
2029 1,877 1.17 #158
2030 1,966 1.22 #153

Where Selah is most popular

Girls named Selah per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.652 per 1,000. Strongest in Hawaii, Montana, and South Dakota.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Selah born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Hawaii 29 2.53 +288%
Montana 31 2.29 +251%
South Dakota 24 1.68 +158%
Wyoming 7 1.64 +152%
Idaho 49 1.46 +125%
Indiana 175 1.25 +91%
South Carolina 106 1.18 +81%
Tennessee 182 1.15 +76%
Arkansas 60 1.14 +74%
Minnesota 119 1.10 +69%
Alabama 99 1.05 +62%
Oregon 68 1.04 +60%
North Carolina 237 1.04 +60%
Nebraska 37 1.03 +58%
Georgia 231 1.02 +56%
Colorado 113 1.01 +55%
North Dakota 13 0.989 +52%
Kansas 56 0.971 +49%
Virginia 161 0.945 +45%
Arizona 132 0.941 +44%
Wisconsin 96 0.932 +43%
Michigan 164 0.900 +38%
Florida 383 0.895 +37%
Washington 126 0.872 +34%
Nevada 40 0.861 +32%
Ohio 199 0.839 +29%
Missouri 101 0.838 +29%
Kentucky 71 0.830 +27%
Maryland 87 0.821 +26%
Pennsylvania 194 0.820 +26%
Oklahoma 60 0.815 +25%
Mississippi 34 0.727 +11%
Texas 547 0.680 ≈ national
California 567 0.675 ≈ national
Iowa 39 0.667 ≈ national
New Mexico 16 0.658 ≈ national
Delaware 7 0.617 -5%
Illinois 135 0.590 -10%
West Virginia 15 0.572 -12%
Louisiana 50 0.571 -12%
District of Columbia 6 0.506 -22%
New Jersey 75 0.416 -36%
New York 146 0.369 -43%
Connecticut 19 0.327 -50%
Massachusetts 36 0.298 -54%
New Hampshire 5 0.271 -58%
Utah 19 0.228 -65%
Alaska – – –
Maine – – –
Rhode Island – – –
Vermont – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Selah

Selah is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #216 in 2025 with 1,416 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1962, 15,394 American babies have been named Selah. Its peak came in 2025, when 1,429 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2020s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Selah stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Selah?

The median living Selah is about 8 years old; half are between 3 and 14. An estimated 15 thousand people named Selah are alive in the United States today.

median 8 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Selah year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 1,416 #216 13 #6,741
2024 1,134 #279 21 #4,852
2023 1,027 #301 12 #7,226
2022 885 #358 8 #9,690
2021 828 #378 9 #8,721
2020 722 #425 13 #6,564
2019 701 #445 8 #9,603
2018 732 #432 15 #5,997
2017 695 #457 10 #8,041
2016 688 #464 – –
2015 690 #461 7 #10,441
2014 577 #540 6 #11,878
2013 552 #538 – –
2012 575 #527 6 #12,030
2011 506 #576 11 #7,421
2010 460 #645 8 #9,528
2009 419 #695 7 #10,781
2008 380 #773 5 #14,262
2007 344 #833 – –
2006 324 #832 6 #11,812
2005 263 #944 5 #13,028
2004 179 #1,229 – –
2003 179 #1,198 10 #7,153
2002 154 #1,280 7 #9,219
2001 124 #1,513 – –
2000 116 #1,549 8 #8,080
1995 40 #2,967 – –
1990 11 #7,759 – –
1985 8 #8,151 – –
1980 11 #6,234 – –
1975 – – – –
1970 – – – –
1965 – – – –
1960 – – – –
1955 – – – –
1950 – – – –
1945 – – – –
1940 – – – –
1935 – – – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Selah

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Selah Sue Selah Sue Belgian musician and songwriter b. 1989 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Selah, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Selah?

The median living Selah is about 8 years old. Half of all living Selahs are between 3 and 14 years old.

How many people named Selah are alive today?

An estimated 15 thousand people named Selah are alive in the United States, based on 15,394 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Selah mean?

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

How popular is the name Selah in 2025?

Selah ranked #216 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 1,416 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Selah?

15,394 babies have been named Selah in the United States since 1962, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Selah most popular?

Selah peaked in 2025, when 1,429 newborns received the name.

Is Selah a boy or girl name?

Selah is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Selah rising or falling?

Selah is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Selah become more popular?

Selah is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 1,966 girls named Selah in 2030, which would rank around #153. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Selah?

Well-known people named Selah include Selah Sue (singer).

Names like Selah

Names that sound and feel close to Selah: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Selah with similar names → More names starting with S →