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Selwyn.

A surname transferred from the given name.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

name

  1. A surname transferred from the given name.

  2. A male given name from Old English transferred back from the surname, in quiet use since the 19th century.

  3. Any of a number of places in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. A river in Canterbury, New Zealand, named after Bishop George Selwyn; in full, Selwyn River.

  4. Any of a number of places in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. A small settlement on the south side of the river in Canterbury, New Zealand.

  5. Any of a number of places in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. A territorial authority of Canterbury, New Zealand, named after the river; in full, Selwyn District.

  6. Any of a number of places in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. A locality, formerly a mining town in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia, named after the Selwyn Range.

  7. Any of a number of places in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. A locality in Alpine Shire, north eastern Victoria, Australia.

  8. Any of a number of places in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. A township in Peterborough County, Ontario, Canada, renamed from Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield in 2013.

  9. Any of a number of places in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. An unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States.

  10. Ellipsis of Selwyn College, Cambridge.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · informal
Where this word comes from

From the Middle English form of Latin Silvanus. Also from the Old English given name Selewine, from sel (“hall”) + wine (“friend”). The places are named after bearers of the surname.

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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.