Selin vs Selvin
American parents have registered 1,548 Selvins since 1880, against 1,042 Selins. Selvin is still ahead, with 44 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Selin Selvin
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 74 years in which either name was published, Selvin for 61 years and Selin for 13 years. The lead changed hands 16 times.
- 1914–1993 Selvin ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1998–2001 Selin ahead
- 2004–2025 Selvin ahead, apart from one short spell
12 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Selin | Selvin | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,042 | 1,548 |
| Most in one year | 45 | 65 |
| Babies in 2025 | 37 | 44 |
| Estimated living today | 1,000 | 1,400 |
| Median age today | 18 | 16 |
| Peak year | 2006 | 2021 |
| Best rank | 3,505th girls | 2,173rd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,903rd | 2,833rd |
| First recorded | 1981 | 1914 |
| Girls / boys | 1,042 / 0 | 0 / 1,548 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Selins alive today are over 18; half the Selvins are over 16. That is 2 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Selin New York (5.1×), New Jersey (3.8×), California (3.2×)
- Selvin California (4.1×), Texas (3.2×), Maryland (3.0×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Selin and Selvin.