Given name & surname
Anselm
“one who follows nobility; protection from God”
Anselm is a variant of Ansel. One French interpretation is “one who follows nobility; protection from God.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Anselm is a variant of Ansel. One French interpretation is “one who follows nobility; protection from God.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Anselm is a variant of Ansel. An origin associated with Ansel is French. In English use, Anselm shares an earlier linguistic root with Anselmo. An origin associated with Anselmo is Germanic.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Proto-Germanic *ansuz (“god”), from Old High German hëlm (“helmet”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Anselm through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 304
- 304 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2016
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 9
- #8,307 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −11%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,307 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 11.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 12 in 2016. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 441 as a first name in 2020; 523 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Anselm’s family of names
Anselm shares a linguistic root with Anselmo. Anselm has a related form in Ansel. In English usage, Anselm has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Anselmo.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Anselm has relatives in 16 languages.
14 related names in 16 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 10
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Anselmocognate · Spanish, Portuguese
- Anselmafeminine form · English
- Anselmicognate · Finnish
- Anssiequivalent
- Anthelmeequivalent
- AnselmeFrench
- SèlmoVenetian
- AnselmusLatin, Dutch
Show 2 moreShow fewer
People named Anselm
- Anselm of Canterbury11th‑century Benedictine monk, Archbishop of Canterbury, philosopher and theologian1033–1109
- Anselm KieferGerman painter and sculptor (born 1945)
- Anselm FeuerbachGerman painter (1829–1880)
- Anselm GrünGerman Benedictine padre and authorborn 1945
- Anselm TurmedaMallorcan writer and translator1355–1423
- Anselm of LaonFrench medieval theologian and philosopher1050–1117
- Anselm HüttenbrennerAustrian composer (1794–1868)
- Anselm, Duke of FriuliMedieval abbot720–803
- Anselm of LuccaCatholic cardinal and saint1035–1086
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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