Seldon vs Selvin

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Seldon 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 119 years in which either name was published, Seldon for 69 years and Selvin for 50 years. The lead changed hands 13 times.

• 1882–1963 Seldon ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1964–1966 Selvin ahead
• 1968–1975 Seldon ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1980–2025 Selvin ahead, apart from 2 short spells

6 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

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 Seldons alive today are over 64; half the Selvins are over 16. That is 48 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Seldon Kentucky (50.5×)
• 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

• Seldon vs Selena
• Seldon vs Selma
• Seldon vs Selina
• Seldon vs Selah
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• Selvin vs Selma
• Selvin vs Selina