Selma
A compact, elegant name associated with Arabic literary tradition and sometimes linked by older naming books to a sense of fairness or Salome-related forms.
Meaning
The supplied 19th-century name books point to Selma as a true feminine name known in Arabic literature as Suleima, Selma, or Selima. One excerpt also suggests a possible Scottish/Keltic sense of “fair,” though that note is marked uncertain, and another points readers toward Salome, showing the name was sometimes treated as a related form rather than a separate etymology. In modern use, Selma is generally understood as a name with multiple cross-cultural associations rather than a single secure literal meaning.
Origin
Fun fact
Older name books show how freely Selma was treated as a cross-cultural name, appearing alongside spellings like Suleima and Selima.