Head to head · Girls' names
Noah vs Selene
#624 vs #621 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Selene is a whisker ahead (#621 vs #624 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Selene leads 4 measures of 6; Noah leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1910s: Noah —, Selene #4814 — Selene higher
- 1920s: Noah —, Selene #4420 — Selene higher
- 1930s: Noah #3848, Selene #3875 — Noah higher
- 1940s: Noah —, Selene #3585 — Selene higher
- 1950s: Noah —, Selene #3036 — Selene higher
- 1960s: Noah #6567, Selene #2087 — Selene higher
- 1970s: Noah #7114, Selene #1922 — Selene higher
- 1980s: Noah #6475, Selene #2243 — Selene higher
- 1990s: Noah #4704, Selene #1156 — Selene higher
- 2000s: Noah #2780, Selene #1351 — Selene higher
- 2010s: Noah #1821, Selene #1107 — Selene higher
- 2020s: Noah #668, Selene #703 — Noah higher
Selene stood higher in 10 of 12 decades; Noah took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Noah | Selene |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #4814 |
| 1920s | — | #4420 |
| 1930s | #3848 | #3875 |
| 1940s | — | #3585 |
| 1950s | — | #3036 |
| 1960s | #6567 | #2087 |
| 1970s | #7114 | #1922 |
| 1980s | #6475 | #2243 |
| 1990s | #4704 | #1156 |
| 2000s | #2780 | #1351 |
| 2010s | #1821 | #1107 |
| 2020s | #668 | #703 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Noah
rest, repose — traditionally read as "comfort"
The Hebrew form Noaḥ matches the root nuaḥ, "to rest." Genesis itself plays on a different root, naḥam, "to comfort," when it explains the name — which is why both readings are handed down together.
Noaḥ (Hebrew) → Nōe (Greek) → Noe (Latin) → Noah (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew, Noaḥ, and reached English through scripture rather than through migration. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Nōe, and Latin followed them, which is why French, Spanish and Portuguese still use Noé rather than a form ending in -ah.
Selene
Moon
Greek selēnē is simply the ordinary word for the moon; it is connected to selas, 'light, brightness'.
Σελήνη (Selēnē) → Selene → Selena → Selina
How it traveled
Selene comes straight from Greek σελήνη, the everyday word for the moon, which also served as the name of the Titan goddess of the moon — sister of Helios the sun and Eos the dawn in Hesiod's account of the older gods. Latin writers borrowed the name unchanged, and it traveled with classical learning into the modern languages of Europe, where the related forms Selena and Selina took hold alongside it.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Noah
NOH-uh
Stress on the first syllable. The French and Spanish Noé is said no-AY, with the stress on the second syllable — worth knowing if the name will be used in both languages.
- Noah — Two syllables already, so most Noahs go through life with the full name in both formal and casual use.
- Noey — An affectionate family form, mostly used with small children rather than adults.
- No-no — A household-only baby nickname; not used outside the family.
Selene
suh-LEEN
Two pronunciations are both in real use: the anglicized two-syllable suh-LEEN, and the classical three-syllable seh-LEE-nee, closer to the Greek. Spanish speakers generally say seh-LEH-neh. Expect to state your preference more than once.
- Lena — The most portable short form, and a long-established given name in its own right across English, German and Scandinavian use.
- Sel — Informal, family-and-friends level; almost never written on anything official.
- Sele — Heard in Spanish-speaking families, where the vowels of the full name stay closer to the surface.
- Selly — Affectionate and mostly used with young children.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Noah if you want…
- a name on the way upup 249 places on the charts in five years
Choose Selene if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Selene from Noah.
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Noah
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and familiar enough that it rarely needs repeating or explaining.
- Has a recognized counterpart in French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew, so it travels without becoming a different name.
- A documented written record going back thousands of years, with no gap where the name fell out of use.
To consider
- This is a name a child will share. In a school of any size there will likely be another Noah in the building, and possibly one in the same class — worth thinking about alongside a common surname.
- The ark story follows the name. Most Noahs meet cheerful jokes about animals two by two at some point, usually from adults.
- For a girl, this spelling reads as the boy's name to most people, and will often be assumed male on paper. The very close Hebrew girl's name Noa — a separate name, from the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers — is the form most parents use for daughters.
Selene
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and easy to explain in one word — moon — which is rarer than parents expect.
- Spelled the same in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, so it crosses borders without adjustment.
- An unbroken presence in American records for more than a century, so it is familiar without being common.
To consider
- The two-syllable and three-syllable pronunciations both have real currency, so she will spend some of her life correcting people — or, more likely, answering to both.
- Selena, Selina and Céline are close enough that mail and roll calls will sometimes land on the wrong one. Céline is actually a separate name from a Latin root, but few people know that.
- It is climbing rather than fading, so it may be noticeably more familiar by the time she reaches school than it is now — still far from crowded, but less of a solo act than the record suggests.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Noah and Selene in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Noah and Selene?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Noah and Selene — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Noah or Selene — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Noah or Selene?
- Selene, in 2025: Selene ranked #621 with 469 babies; Noah ranked #624 with 468 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Noah or Selene?
- Noah. Over the last five years Noah moved up 249 places; Selene moved up 182 places.
- Which is the older name, Noah or Selene?
- Noah entered the US charts in 1931; Selene entered the US charts in 1919. On the American record, Selene is the older name.
- How many people are named Noah and Selene?
- About 5,000 people named Noah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,500 people named Selene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Noahs or Selenes in the classroom?
- Noah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Selene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Noah, Selene and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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