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Home › Baby Names Directory › Selden

Selden

♂ Boy

Pronounced SEL-duhn /ˈsɛl.dən/Medium

Meaning: Selden is an English place-name surname turned first name, from Old English elements usually read as 'willow valley' or 'house in the copse.' Carried by the jurist John Selden, it entered given-name use in the American surname-name tradition, staying decidedly uncommon.Low

In 30 seconds: Selden is an English surname used as a boy's name, from Old English for 'willow valley.' It was rare, peaking in the nineteen-twenties.
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Origin LowEnglish
MeaningSelden is an English place-name surname turned first name, from Old English elements usually read as 'willow valley' or 'house in the copse.' Carried by the jurist John Selden, it entered given-name use in the American surname-name tradition, staying decidedly uncommon.
U.S. rank (1978)#6604 ↘ Falling
1978 U.S. births5 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)
Peak year1927
Total births (all-time)≈ 373

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 192719111978

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Selden is an English surname from a place name, built on Old English roots read as 'willow valley' or 'dwelling in the wooded hollow.' The seventeenth-century English jurist and scholar John Selden lent it prestige. As a given name it followed the surname-as-first-name fashion in the early twentieth-century United States and never grew common.

It was never common, given to only about sixteen boys a year around its peak near 1927, and it thinned out after mid-century.

Did you know? The scholar John Selden made the surname known; as a first name it joined the many English surnames American families gave to sons a century ago.
Overall data confidence 40%
References - Selden — English place-name surname 'willow valley'; cf. jurist John Selden

Variations

SeldonSheldonSelby

Nicknames

SelDenny

Famous Bearers

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If you like Selden…

Sheldon— a like -don surname name
Seldon— a close variant spelling
Selby— a related Sel- surname name
Alden— a similar English -den name

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Selden mean?

It is an English surname used as a first name, from Old English for 'willow valley.'

How do you pronounce Selden?

It is said SEL-duhn /ˈsɛl.dən/, two syllables with the stress on the first.

Is Selden a boy or girl name?

Selden is used as a boy's name.

How popular is Selden?

It has always been rare in the United States, given to only about sixteen boys a year around its nineteen-twenties peak.

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