Seleni
Of Greek origin, meaning "moon" or "moon goddess".
Name Census estimates that about 143 living Americans carry the first name Seleni. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Seleni today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Seleni births was 2016 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Seleni. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
143
~ 1 in 2,396,883 Americans
Peak year
2016
28 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,239
Tracked since 1993
Census
Seleni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 164 people with the first name Seleni, which placed it at #43,191 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#43,191
National first-name rank
People counted
164
164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
87.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Seleni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seleni is Hispanic at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%) and White (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Seleni described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Seleni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino87.2% · 143
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 8
- White4.3% · 7
- Black or African American3.0% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Seleni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Seleni from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 74 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Seleni remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Seleni by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Seleni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Selenis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Seleni
The name Seleni has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the 5th century BC. It is derived from the word "selene," which means "moon" in Greek. The name was likely inspired by the goddess of the moon, Selene, who was a prominent figure in Greek mythology.
In Greek mythology, Selene was the personification of the moon and was often depicted as a beautiful woman riding a chariot across the night sky. She was the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and was closely associated with the cycle of the moon and its influence on the tides and the natural world.
One of the earliest known references to the name Seleni can be found in the works of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos around 600 BC. Sappho's poetry often invoked the goddess Selene and celebrated the beauty and power of the moon.
In the 4th century BC, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote about Selene in his work "Timaeus," describing her as one of the celestial deities that governed the universe. This further solidified the name's association with the moon and its celestial significance in ancient Greek culture.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Seleni. One of the earliest recorded examples is Seleni of Syracuse, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 5th century BC. She is credited with contributing to the development of the Pythagorean theorem and is considered one of the first female mathematicians in recorded history.
Another famous Seleni was Seleni of Cyzicus, a Greek physician who lived in the 2nd century AD. She was renowned for her expertise in gynecology and obstetrics and is believed to have written several treatises on women's health and childbirth.
In the Middle Ages, there was Seleni of Constantinople, a Byzantine scholar and translator who lived in the 9th century AD. She was known for her translations of Greek philosophical and scientific texts into Arabic, which helped to preserve and disseminate ancient Greek knowledge throughout the Muslim world.
During the Renaissance, Seleni Piccolomini was an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who lived in the 15th century. She was a prominent figure in the cultural and intellectual circles of Florence and was known for her support of artists and scholars.
In the 19th century, Seleni Kokkinou was a Greek poet and educator who played a significant role in the Greek War of Independence. Her patriotic poems and writings helped to inspire and rally the Greek people against Ottoman rule.
People
Seleni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Seleni as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Seleni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Seleni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Seleni going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,396,883 US residents.
Is Seleni a common name?
We classify Seleni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Seleni most popular?
The single biggest year for Seleni was 2016, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Seleni is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Seleni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 164 people with the name Seleni, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,191 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Seleni in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Seleni?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seleni leans strongly female. 152 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Seleni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seleni is Hispanic at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%) and White (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Seleni most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Seleni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.2% (143 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Seleni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Seleni a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Seleni in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Seleni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Seleni in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Seleni can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Seleni?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.