Selma.
A female given name.
Meaning & usage
A female given name.
A surname.
A placename A community in Nova Scotia, Canada.
A placename A village in Graubünden canton, Switzerland.
A placename A place in the United States. A city, the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama; named for James Macpherson's Ossianic poem The Songs of Selma.
A placename A place in the United States. A city in Fresno County, California; named for early resident Selma Michelson.
A placename A place in the United States. A city in Texas.
A placename A place in the United States. A town in North Carolina; named for the city in Alabama.
A placename A place in the United States. A town in Indiana.
A placename A place in the United States. A census-designated place in Josephine County, Oregon.
A placename A place in the United States. A census-designated place in Virginia.
A placename A place in the United States. An unincorporated community in Arkansas.
A placename A place in the United States. An unincorporated community in Iowa.
A placename A place in the United States. An unincorporated community in Kansas.
A placename A place in the United States. An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for the place in the Ossian cycle.
A placename A place in the United States. An unincorporated community in Ohio.
Where this word comes from
Taken to use in the 19th century when similar-sounding names, Elma, Thelma, Alma, Wilma, etc. were in vogue. Perhaps a shortening of Anselma, or from the name of a place in the James Macpherson's Ossian cycle of epic poems, itself from Scottish Gaelic sealladh + math (“good vision”). In some cases perhaps borrowed from Turkish Selma, from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).
A confrontation where authorities brutally repress those wanting civil rights, similar to Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama.
Where this word comes from
Taken to use in the 19th century when similar-sounding names, Elma, Thelma, Alma, Wilma, etc. were in vogue. Perhaps a shortening of Anselma, or from the name of a place in the James Macpherson's Ossian cycle of epic poems, itself from Scottish Gaelic sealladh + math (“good vision”). In some cases perhaps borrowed from Turkish Selma, from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.