Selena
From the Greek word for the moon. Only around 700 women in Poland carry it, so most Poles have never met one, and each newcomer sticks in the memory.
Selena Pronunciation
Selena is pronounced se-LE-nah (/sɛˈlɛna/).
What Selena means
Where Selena comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Selena begins in Greek, in Selene, the goddess who was the moon itself. The short meaning has stayed close to that source: moon, księżyc, the disc that fills and empties over a month. No diminutive softens it and no variant crowds around it. The name stands on its own.
The Spanish thread is more recent. Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, born in Texas in 1971, sang Tejano music in Spanish and turned the name into a household word across the Spanish-speaking world before her death in 1995. Two years later a film with Jennifer Lopez in the title role brought it to millions more. Plenty of them never studied a word of Greek.
In a Polish class register, Selena sits among the Zuzannas and Julias, a little apart, easy to spot. Its root still means one thing. The moon.
How many people are named Selena
1 in 31752 women in Poland is named Selena. 710 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1105 among female names.
Selena's popularity over time
26 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #468 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2004.
Where parents choose Selena
Selena is most popular in Silesian, 136% above the national average (37 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+67%) and Lubusz (+46%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and West Pomeranian, 64% and 48% below average respectively.
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Silesian
+136%1 in 6,151 babies
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Pomeranian
+67%1 in 8,666 babies
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Lubusz
+46%1 in 9,931 babies
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Subcarpathian
−64%1 in 40,188 babies
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West Pomeranian
−48%1 in 28,142 babies
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Holy Cross
−48%1 in 27,717 babies
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Silesian+136% 37 born1 in 6,151 babies+136%
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Pomeranian+67% 17 born1 in 8,666 babies+67%
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Lubusz+46% 5 born1 in 9,931 babies+46%
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Lower Silesian+29% 14 born1 in 11,224 babies+29%
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Opole+26% 4 born1 in 11,524 babies+26%
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Warmian-Masurian+21% 6 born1 in 11,966 babies+21%
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Lesser Poland−4% 15 born1 in 15,128 babies−4%
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Greater Poland−6% 14 born1 in 15,375 babies−6%
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Masovian−18% 20 born1 in 17,713 babies−18%
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Łódź−43% 5 born1 in 25,344 babies−43%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−47% 4 born1 in 27,345 babies−47%
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West Pomeranian−48% 3 born1 in 28,142 babies−48%
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Holy Cross−48% 2 born1 in 27,717 babies−48%
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Subcarpathian−64% 3 born1 in 40,188 babies−64%
Selena as a middle name
Selena is a first name for 710 women in Poland and a middle name for another 168, an 81/19 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 520th, between Astrid (169) and Ryta (165).
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#518 Bogda171
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#519 Astrid169
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#520 Selena168
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#521 Ryta165
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#522 Konstantyna164