Selestina
Feminine form of the Late Latin name Caelestinus meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Selestina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Selestina today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Selestina births was 1998 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Selestina. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Selestina. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1998
6 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
1998 SSA rank
#13,791
Tracked since 1926
Census
Selestina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 101 people with the first name Selestina, which placed it at #53,227 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
#53,227
National first-name rank
People counted
101
101 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Selestina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Selestina is Hispanic at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and White (7.9%). 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 Selestina 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 Selestina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino74.3% · 75
- Black or African American9.9% · 10
- White7.9% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 5
- Two or more races2.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Popularity
Selestina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Selestina from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Selestina 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 Selestina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Selestina
The name Selestina is a feminine given name with roots that can be traced back to ancient Latin and Greek origins. In Latin, the word "caelestis" meant "heavenly" or "celestial," and it is believed that the name Selestina is derived from this word, possibly through the Italian name "Celestina."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Selestina can be found in the 15th-century Spanish novel "La Celestina," written by Fernando de Rojas. The novel's central character, a powerful and influential woman, bears this name. This literary work is considered a masterpiece of Spanish literature and helped to popularize the name Selestina across Europe.
During the Renaissance period, the name Selestina gained popularity among the aristocracy and upper classes in various parts of Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. It was often chosen as a name for girls born into noble families, as it carried connotations of heavenly beauty and grace.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Selestina Theodoli lived in Rome. She was a renowned patron of the arts and held salons in her palace, where many renowned artists, writers, and intellectuals of the time would gather. Her patronage and influence helped to further popularize the name in Italy.
Another historical figure with the name Selestina was Selestina Petruzzelli, an Italian opera singer who lived in the late 19th century. Born in 1858, she was a celebrated mezzo-soprano and performed in many of the major opera houses across Europe, including La Scala in Milan.
In the early 20th century, a Mexican artist named Selestina Bravo gained recognition for her vibrant paintings depicting scenes from everyday life in Mexico. Born in 1885, her works are now part of the collections of several renowned museums.
Throughout history, the name Selestina has also been used by various authors, musicians, and artists, though often as a middle name or pen name. It has maintained its association with heavenly beauty and grace, making it a unique and evocative choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Selestina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Selestina 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
Selestina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Selestina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Selestina 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Selestina a common name?
We classify Selestina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Selestina most popular?
The single biggest year for Selestina was 1998, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Selestina is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Selestina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 101 people with the name Selestina, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,227 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 Selestina 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 Selestina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Selestina appears almost entirely female. Of the 108 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Selestina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Selestina is Hispanic at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and White (7.9%). 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 Selestina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Selestina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (75 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 Selestina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Selestina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Selestina 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 Selestina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Selestina 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 Selestina 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 named Selestina?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.