Selma
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Selma.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Selma (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Selma has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 49 |
| 1999 | 77 |
| 2000 | 111 |
| 2001 | 146 |
| 2002 | 193 |
| 2003 | 174 |
| 2004 | 183 |
| 2005 | 245 |
| 2006 | 273 |
| 2007 | 309 |
| 2008 | 319 |
| 2009 | 375 |
| 2010 | 356 |
| 2011 | 360 |
| 2012 | 379 |
| 2013 | 391 |
| 2014 | 386 |
| 2015 | 417 |
| 2016 | 378 |
| 2017 | 518 |
| 2018 | 532 |
| 2019 | 486 |
| 2020 | 574 |
| 2021 | 656 |
| 2022 | 538 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,966 |
| 2000 | 1,967 |
| 2001 | 2,031 |
| 2002 | 2,143 |
| 2003 | 2,207 |
| 2004 | 2,342 |
| 2005 | 2,516 |
| 2006 | 2,759 |
| 2007 | 3,033 |
| 2008 | 3,336 |
| 2009 | 3,689 |
| 2010 | 4,023 |
| 2011 | 4,389 |
| 2012 | 4,760 |
| 2013 | 5,166 |
| 2014 | 5,545 |
| 2015 | 5,944 |
| 2016 | 6,310 |
| 2017 | 6,840 |
| 2018 | 7,389 |
| 2019 | 7,870 |
| 2020 | 8,466 |
Selma in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Selma.Hi! My name is Selma.
- Selma ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Selma called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Jag ska fika med Selma i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Selma this afternoon.
- Selmas mamma är lärare.Selma's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Selmas mamma is Selma's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Selma
How do you pronounce Selma in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Selma from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Selma mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Selma.
How popular is Selma in Sweden?
538 babies were named Selma in 2022. In 2020, 8,466 people in Sweden had Selma as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2021 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.