Selema as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Selema

What is the meaning of the name Selema ?

The baby name Selema is a Female name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced seh-LEH-ma (IPA: /sɛˈlɛmə/).

Selema is Amharic, Tigrinya in Origin.

Selema traces to the widespread Semitic root S-L-M, through Arabic Salima/Salim (“safe, whole”), the source of words for “peace” such as Arabic salam, Hebrew shalom, and Amharic/Tigrinya selam. In Swahili, salama means “safe; at peace,” reinforcing the core sense of tranquillity, wholeness, and security carried by the name. Selema can thus be read as “peaceful,” “secure,” or “one who is unharmed.”

The name appears across North and East Africa and the Middle East, with spellings shaped by local languages and colonial-era transliteration. Close variants include Selima, Salima/Salimah, Selma, Salma, Salema, and Selam; masculine counterparts are Selim, Salim, and Salem. Ottoman and Turkish use (Selime/Selim) helped sustain its circulation, while 18th–19th-century European literature popularized Selima, and the celebrated colonial-era racehorse Selima kept the form visible in English-speaking America. Modern usage of Selema is less common than Selima or Salma but is found in East African and diaspora communities.

⚙ Selema is seldom given. In all, it turns up just 85 times, across 23 countries.