Seylah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "gift from heaven".
Name Census estimates that about 249 living Americans carry the first name Seylah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Seylah today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Seylah births was 2023 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Seylah. 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
249
~ 1 in 1,376,523 Americans
Peak year
2023
38 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,016
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Seylah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Seylah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 154 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
Seylah 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 Seylah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Seylahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Seylah
The name Seylah is a unique and enigmatic one, with origins that are shrouded in mystery and speculation. Some scholars believe it may have roots in ancient Arabic or Persian cultures, while others trace its lineage to obscure nomadic tribes of the Middle East or Central Asia. The name itself appears to be a variant or diminutive of the more common Selah, which has Biblical connotations and is thought to have originated as a musical notation or instruction in ancient Hebrew texts.
While concrete historical records of the name Seylah are scarce, there are a few tantalizing references and individuals who bore this appellation throughout the centuries. One of the earliest known figures was Seylah ibn Khalid, a 9th-century Abbasid scholar and poet from Baghdad, whose works explored themes of love, spirituality, and the natural world.
Several centuries later, in the 16th century, there was Seylah al-Kindi, a renowned physician and philosopher from the Arabian Peninsula, who made significant contributions to the fields of medicine and natural sciences during the Islamic Golden Age.
Moving forward in time, the 18th century saw the birth of Seylah Bey, a powerful Ottoman military leader and statesman who played a pivotal role in the expansion and consolidation of the empire's territories in the Balkans.
In the 19th century, Seylah Merrill was a pioneering American educator and advocate for women's rights, who established several successful schools and academies in New England.
One of the more recent historical figures bearing this name was Seylah Khan, a celebrated Afghan poet and writer of the early 20th century, whose works celebrated the beauty and resilience of his homeland's landscapes and people.
While these examples provide glimpses into the rich tapestry of individuals who carried the name Seylah throughout history, its true origins and meanings remain a captivating enigma, inviting further exploration and interpretation by scholars and linguists alike.
People
Seylah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Seylah 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
Seylah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Seylah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 249 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Seylah 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 1,376,523 US residents.
Is Seylah a common name?
We classify Seylah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 251 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Seylah most popular?
The single biggest year for Seylah was 2023, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Seylah is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Seylah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Seylah 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.
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.