Seleta
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "selected" or "chosen one".
Name Census estimates that about 96 living Americans carry the first name Seleta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Seleta today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Seleta births was 1962 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Seleta. 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 Seleta. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
96
~ 1 in 3,570,358 Americans
Peak year
1962
12 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1990 SSA rank
#14,780
Tracked since 1922
Census
Seleta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 174 people with the first name Seleta, which placed it at #41,801 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
#41,801
National first-name rank
People counted
174
174 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Seleta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seleta is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Black (44.3%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Seleta 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 Seleta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.9% · 85
- Black or African American44.3% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 7
- Two or more races2.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Seleta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Seleta from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 42 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Seleta 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 Seleta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Seletas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Seleta
The name Seleta is believed to have its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "selene," which means "moon." This suggests that the name may have been associated with lunar deities or celestial beings in ancient Greek mythology.
In Greek mythology, Selene was the personification of the moon, a beautiful goddess who rode a chariot across the night sky. She was often depicted as a woman with a crescent moon crown, carrying a lit torch or wearing a long, flowing robe adorned with stars.
The earliest recorded use of the name Seleta dates back to ancient Greece, where it was given to girls born under the auspicious light of a full moon or during a lunar eclipse. It was believed that these children were blessed with the goddess Selene's divine protection and wisdom.
One of the most notable historical figures to bear the name Seleta was a prominent philosopher and mathematician from the city of Alexandria in the 3rd century BC. Her treatises on geometry and astronomy were highly regarded in the ancient world, and her work influenced generations of scholars and thinkers.
In the 5th century AD, there was a Christian martyr named Seleta who was persecuted for her faith during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Her unwavering devotion and courage in the face of adversity inspired many early Christians and cemented her place in the annals of religious history.
During the Renaissance period, Seleta was the name of a renowned Italian painter and sculptor who lived in Florence in the 15th century. Her intricate frescoes and marble sculptures adorned many of the city's grand cathedrals and palaces, earning her widespread acclaim and admiration.
In the 18th century, a French noblewoman named Seleta was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential literary salon, which attracted the era's most prominent writers, philosophers, and intellectuals. Her legacy as a cultural icon and champion of the Enlightenment endures to this day.
Another notable figure named Seleta was a pioneering American suffragette and activist for women's rights in the late 19th century. She played a crucial role in the fight for women's suffrage and advocated tirelessly for gender equality, leaving an indelible mark on the social and political landscape of her time.
People
Seleta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Seleta 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
Seleta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Seleta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 96 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Seleta 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 3,570,358 US residents.
Is Seleta a common name?
We classify Seleta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 131 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Seleta most popular?
The single biggest year for Seleta was 1962, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Seleta is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Seleta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 174 people with the name Seleta, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,801 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 Seleta 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 Seleta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seleta appears almost entirely female. Of the 170 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 Seleta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seleta is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Black (44.3%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Seleta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Seleta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.9% (85 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 Seleta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Seleta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Seleta 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 Seleta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Seleta 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 Seleta 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 have the name Seleta?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.