Find out how popular the last name Selent is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Selent.

Selent, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Selent surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Selent in America

Selent is the 86645th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Selent surname appeared 215 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Selent.

We can also compare 2010 data for Selent to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Selent

The surname SELENT has its origins in the northern regions of Germany, and is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century. It is derived from the Old German word "sele," which means "hall" or "dwelling," suggesting that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived in a particular hall or residence.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the SELENT surname can be found in the Breviarium Lubicense, a 13th-century manuscript from the city of Lübeck, where a person named "Hinricus Selent" is mentioned. This suggests that the name was already in use in northern Germany during this period.

In the 14th century, the surname appears in various records from the region of Mecklenburg, including the Mecklenburgisches Urkundenbuch, which documents a "Henneke Selent" from the town of Wismar in 1363. This indicates that the name was well-established in this area by the late Middle Ages.

During the Renaissance period, a notable figure bearing the SELENT surname was Johann Selent, a German theologian and Reformer who lived from 1518 to 1594. He was a close associate of Martin Luther and played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in northern Germany.

In the 17th century, the SELENT name appears in records from the city of Lübeck once again, with a merchant named Matthias Selent documented in 1642. This suggests that the family had maintained a presence in this region over several centuries.

Another prominent individual with the SELENT surname was Carl Gustav Selent, a German architect and urban planner who lived from 1810 to 1879. He is best known for his work on the renovation and expansion of the city of Rostock in the mid-19th century.

While the SELENT surname has its roots in northern Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the country and beyond, with various spelling variations emerging over time, such as Sellent, Sehlen, and Selen.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Selent

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Selent.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Selent was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Selent has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Selent was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Selent, please contact us.

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