Selestino
From Latin meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Selestino. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Selestino today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Selestino births was 1922 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Selestino. 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 Selestino. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1922
8 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,077
Tracked since 1920
Census
Selestino in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155 people with the first name Selestino, which placed it at #44,540 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
#44,540
National first-name rank
People counted
155
155 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Selestino
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Selestino is Hispanic at 95.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Selestino 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 Selestino at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.5% · 148
- White1.3% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
- Two or more races0.6% · 1
Popularity
Selestino: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Selestino from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 39 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Selestino 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 Selestino during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Selestinos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Selestino
The name Selestino is of Latin origin, deriving from the word "caelestis," which means "heavenly" or "celestial." It is believed to have emerged during the early days of the Roman Empire, around the 1st century AD.
This name was initially associated with the pagan deities and celestial bodies worshipped in ancient Roman mythology. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, the name Selestino gained popularity among early Christian communities, who likely embraced it as a symbolic representation of the divine realm and heavenly aspirations.
One of the earliest recorded instances of this name can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, who mentioned a Selestino Claudius, a prominent figure in the court of Emperor Nero in the 1st century AD. However, it is unclear whether this was a first or last name.
In the 3rd century AD, there was a Saint Selestino, a martyr who was executed during the Diocletian persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. His unwavering faith and sacrifice contributed to the name's enduring popularity among Christian communities.
During the Middle Ages, the name Selestino was commonly found across various regions of Europe, particularly in Italy, Spain, and France. One notable bearer of this name was Selestino V, an Italian pope who reigned for just a few months in 1294 before abdicating the papacy.
In the Renaissance period, the name Selestino gained further prominence. Selestino Calvi (1589-1660) was an Italian painter and architect known for his work in churches and palaces across Rome and other Italian cities.
Moving forward, Selestino Alvarado (1841-1914) was a prominent Mexican general and politician who played a significant role in the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Selestino Migliore (1870-1953), an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments and participated in the 1922 conclave that elected Pope Pius XI.
While the name Selestino has remained relatively uncommon in modern times, it continues to hold a rich historical and cultural significance, particularly within the Catholic tradition, as a reminder of the celestial and divine realms.
People
Selestino + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Selestino 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
Selestino: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Selestino?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Selestino 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Selestino a common name?
We classify Selestino as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 68 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Selestino most popular?
The single biggest year for Selestino was 1922, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Selestino is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Selestino in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155 people with the name Selestino, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,540 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 Selestino 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 Selestino?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Selestino leans strongly male. 159 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 7 female bearers (4.2%). 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 Selestino?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Selestino is Hispanic at 95.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Selestino most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Selestino in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (148 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 Selestino in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Selestino a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Selestino in the SSA data are male. 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 Selestino still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Selestino 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 Selestino 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 Selestino?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.