Selma is usually explained as a short form of Anselma, the feminine of Anselm, meaning "helmet of God" or "divine protection", though it was also popularized in the 18th century by James Macpherson's Ossian poems, where Selma is a castle. In the United States the name is tied to the Alabama city and its civil rights marches of 1965. Selma peaked at number 1653 among US girls in 2004 and ranks 2810 in 2025.