Selma
[ˈsɛlmə]Meaning
Turkish form of Salma; otherwise unknown, possibly short form of Anselma
Background Story
Selma is recorded as the Turkish form of Salma, and its meaning is otherwise given as unknown, possibly a short form of Anselma; Zelma is a variant. It is also used in Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, French, Georgian, Hebrew, Indonesian and Portuguese. Its use in Germany and Scandinavia stems from James Macpherson's 18th-century Ossianic poems, where it appears as a place name, and its popularity in Sweden is attributed to the Selma poems of Frans Michael Franzén. Swedish immigrants then carried the name to Denmark, where it spread further in the work of Selma Lagerlöf.
Related Names
Salma
Means "safe" in Arabic, from سلم (salima), "to be safe"
Amani
Means "wishes" in Arabic; in Swahili, "peace"
Irini
Modern Greek form of Irene
Sahra
Recorded as a feminine given name in Somali and Persian
Sakeena
No documented meaning in the sources checked
Sakina
Means "calmness, peace" in Arabic
Salama
Means "safety" in Arabic, from the root سلم (salima), "to be safe"
Shasa
Recorded as a feminine given name in Indonesian, in a user-submitted entry
Siona
Recorded as a feminine given name in Judeo-Anglo-Norman
Suleika
Arabic name, a variant of Zuleika