Sélestat was first mentioned in 727 as "Sclastat". It was mentioned as "Scalistati" in 775, as "Slectistat" in 881, as "Sclezistat" in 884 and as "Slezestat" in 1095. The current German name, "Schlettstadt", appeared in 1310, although various spellings can be noticed on posterior documents, such as "Schlestat", "Schletstat" and "Schlettstat". The French administration used various forms from the 17th to the 19th century, such as Frenchified ("Sélestat", "Sélestadt") and Germanic ("Schlestadt", "Schelestadt"). The town was officially known as "Schlettstadt" between 1871 and 1919, when Alsace was part of the German Empire. Since 1920, the town's French name is fixed as Sélestat.