How rare is the name Selena?

43,320 people in the United States have the first name Selena, about 1 in 6,972. It ranks #993 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

SELENA

#993

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
43,320
About
1 in 6,972
This common or more
69.9%
Who bears it

Of the 43,320 people named Selena, 50.7% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 26.6% as White and 11.8% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Selena peaked in 1995, when 3,840 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1995
Births that year
3,840
In 2025*
1,170 ▼70%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 59,944 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Selena by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #403. The largest share of babies named Selena, 36.5%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#1,249102
1890s#1,328143
1900s#1,394179
1910s#2,023318
1920s#2,153424
1930s#2,338327
1940s#2,153455
1950s#1,711964
1960s#1,1012,535
1970s#7824,843
1980s#1,0563,362
1990s#40315,077
2000s#53212,440
2010s#60511,028
2020s#5127,747
Before 19010.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–271.4%
Silent Generation 1928–451.1%
Baby boom 1946–643.8%
Generation X 1965–8011.2%
Millennials 1981–9619.3%
Generation Z 1997–1236.5%
2013 and later26.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Selena is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Selena has been most common in Nevada (2.7×), Arizona (2.3×), and New Mexico (2.1×), and least common in North Dakota (0.2×).

55,581 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Selena

#991 Kelvin · 43,448#992 Jaclyn · 43,408#994 Son · 43,275#995 Patty · 43,235

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Selena, most common first.

#1,812 Selina · 16,344#2,578 Selene · 9,318#17,543 Selenia · 627#28,745 Selen · 311#32,331 Seleena · 261#40,999 Selyna · 180#44,359 Seleni · 156#48,328 Selana · 132

Compare