Anselmo
Masculine · “Germanic ans and helm”
Anselm invented the argument that God's existence follows from the definition of God, and philosophers have been answering it for nine hundred years without agreeing that it has been answered.
How old is the name Anselmo?
Anselmo first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Anselmo alive today was born around 1966, making them about 59 years old. About 1,900 people named Anselmo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anselmo most popular?
Anselmo peaked in 1932, reaching #1157 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 9,538 places below that high. See the whole 1932 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Anshelm to Anselmo
The story of Anselmo
Anselm of Aosta, abbot of Bec and then archbishop of Canterbury, set out in the Proslogion of 1078 an argument that God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived, and that such a being must exist in reality and not only in the understanding, since a being that existed only in thought would be less great. A monk named Gaunilo objected almost immediately with a parody about a perfect island, Aquinas rejected the argument two centuries later, Descartes revived a version of it, Kant attacked it, and twentieth-century logicians rebuilt it in modal terms. It is the rare philosophical argument that neither dies nor wins. His name is Germanic and older than any of it, built from the word for a heathen god and the word for a helmet.
Meaning
Germanic ans and helm, god-helmet
From the Germanic elements ans, a god of the old Germanic pantheon, and helm, a helmet or protection. Anselmo is the Italian and Spanish form. The American peak is 1932.
How the name formed
- Anshelm
- Anselmus
- Anselmo
Related forms: Anselmo · Anselmo · Anselm
Pronouncing Anselmo
ahn-SEL-moh
Three syllables, stress on the second, in Spanish and Italian alike.
Nicknames for Anselmo
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1907
- Most boys named
- 199041 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1157reached in 1932
- Change vs 2023
- −25.0%6 in 2025, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Anselmo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anselmo in Italian — same name
- Anselmo in Spanish — same name
- Anselm in English — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Anselmos among us
people named Anselmo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Anselmo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Anselmo
- #10695
- Anselmo on the 2025 chart
- #917
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Anselmo went to 6 boys in 2025, but Ancelmo is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 11, which makes it the 917th most-given boys’ name of the year — 9,778 places above the chart.
- Anselmo6
- Ancelmo5
About 1 boy in 155,280 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 284,679 for Anselmo itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Hilda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anselmo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Hilda climbed just as high around 1909, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Hilda's path sketches the road Anselmo is walking now.
Anselmo sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Anselmo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anselmo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ansel and Selmo are two short forms in different traditions.
- The Germanic elements are documented.
- It is a traditional name across southern Europe.
- Three syllables plus a surname makes a long full name.
- English speakers know Ansel and not Anselmo.
- The 1932 peak dates its American use.
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Anselmo
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anselmos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Anselmo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Anselmo?
- Anselmo is the most-used spelling in US records — 6 of the 11 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Ancelmo.
- How popular is the name Anselmo in 2025?
- Anselmo ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anselmo?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Anselmo — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anselmo with classmates?
- Anselmo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anselmo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jamez#10695 · Danyel#10695 · Mychael#10695 · Aydenn#10695 · Nikkolas#10695 · Kevyn#10695 · Maliq#10695 · Garett#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anselmo? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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