Baby Name of the Day Selah: Sleek and Meaningful

The baby name Selah combines the traditional simplicity of Sarah with a meaning as rich as Harmony or Promise.

Thanks to Christine for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

WHAT DOES THE NAME SELAH MEAN?

It’s tempting to refer to the baby name Selah as an Old Testament name.

Except that’s only partially correct.

In the Old Testament Book of Psalms, the word selah appears. It indicates a pause. That makes this more akin to musical names like Cadence than traditional favorites like Naomi or Esther.

And yet, Selah sounds like a name.

Pause can also mean rest, and that feels like a powerful meaning. It’s not exactly a virtue, but it suggests desirable qualities, like patience and calm.

Or at least that’s the way that we hear it today.

There’s also the place name Sela in the Old Testament, a city stretching from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. 

Because Sela means rock, it was also sometimes referred to as Petra, the Latin translation. Worth noting: Kveller lists Selah as a feminine name meaning rock, with Sela as an alternate spelling.

That puts Sela and Selah in the company of other Biblical place names like Jericho and Shiloh. 

FAMOUS FIGURES NAMED SELAH

Henry James used Selah for the name of a character in his 1886 novel The Bostonians.

Actress Sela Ward played Teddy Reed on Sisters during the 1990s. The NBC drama earned Ward a Primetime Emmy. She went on to appear on series Once and Again, as well as House, CSI: NY, and FBI. 

In 1998, musician Lauryn Hill and former football player Rohan Marley welcomed a daughter named Selah. Rohan is the son of reggae legend Bob Marley. That makes Selah music royalty on both sides. In 2011, she also launched a modeling career. 

Both Sela and Selah started to rise in the early 1990s, just as Ward’s career flourished. 

Now factor in two songs.

For 2002’s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Hill contributed a soundtrack song called “Selah,” named after her daughter.

She explains the name’s meaning in the lyrics:

And then he came, Selah 
 And it means praise and meditation 
 And then he came, Selah 
 And it means did you think about that

In 2019, Kanye West released a song by the same name. His “Selah” is openly and expressly religious … and also appeared in the trailer for Fast & Furious 9. As West has descended into controversy, his lyrics seem less likely to inspire a baby’s name.

But West’s reasons for choosing the song title reinforce the name’s appeal.

SELAH AS A PURPOSE NAME

In some settings, “selah” substitutes for “amen,” a word spoken as spiritual affirmation. 

It hovers on the edges of pop culture, from the letters of Hunter S. Thompson to reggae songs.

In some sense, the meaning was just waiting for discovery. But it seems like we’ve expanded and added to the word across the years.

It makes the name Selah a purpose name.

That’s not quite a virtue, like old school Grace. 

Instead, it’s closer to Chosen or Creed. The name signals belief in something higher, but preserves a degree of ambiguity. Selah and company could be expressly religious, even Christian. But they might also be chosen for sound, style, and that hint that Selah is bigger than just those five letters imply. 

HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME SELAH?

A handful of women, and even a few men, were named Sela during the 1800s and 1900s. That’s also true for Selah, but in smaller numbers.

That starts to change late in the 20th century.

In 1990, just seven girls were named Sela. By 1995, that number grew to 31. Since then, Sela has faded, never even breaking into the US Top 1000.

As for Selah, the name was given to 11 girls in 1990, and 40 by 1995.

In 2005, Selah entered the US Top 1000 at #944. It has gained steadily since then, reaching an all-time high of #216 in 2025.

SLEEK and STYLISH

Even without the meaning attached, the baby name Selah might have succeeded on sound.

This is the age of Lyla and Mia, Isla and Sophie. Liquid, flowing sounds, heavy on vowels and short on consonants, define many of the most popular choices for our children today. Short and nickname-proof helps, too. With names like Sienna, Solana, and Sylvie on the rise, Selah just makes sense.

Thanks to a slow, steady climb in popularity, a deep meaning, and a resemblance to traditional favorites like Sarah, the baby name Selah feels both well-established and fresh at the same time.

What do you think of the baby name Selah?

First published on January 16, 2013, this post was revised and re-published on April 27, 2022 and again on October 19, 2026.