Salli
Of Arabic origin meaning "one who is joyful" or "joy".
Name Census estimates that about 489 living Americans carry the first name Salli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Salli today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Salli births was 1956 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Salli. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
489
~ 1 in 700,929 Americans
Peak year
1956
31 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1991 SSA rank
#14,899
Tracked since 1938
Census
Salli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 643 people with the first name Salli, which placed it at #17,246 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,246
National first-name rank
People counted
643
643 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Salli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salli is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.1%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Salli described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Salli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 563
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 39
- Two or more races2.2% · 14
- Black or African American1.9% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Salli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Salli from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 233 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Salli by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Salli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sallis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Michigan, Ohio recorded the most babies named Salli, while Ohio, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Salli
The name Salli is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic peoples of Scandinavia during the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries. It is thought to be a diminutive form of the Old Norse name Sali, which means "hall" or "dwelling."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Salli can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of medieval Icelandic literature that dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries. In these sagas, Salli is mentioned as the name of a norse warrior and adventurer who embarked on various expeditions and battles.
Throughout history, the name Salli has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Salli Þorkelsson (born around 1050), an Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker who played a significant role in the Icelandic Commonwealth during the 11th century.
In the 12th century, Salli Ragnvaldsson (born around 1120) was a prominent Norwegian nobleman and military commander who fought in the Norwegian Civil Wars. He is known for his bravery and leadership during the Battle of Ré in 1163.
Another historical figure bearing the name Salli was Salli Jónsson (born around 1230), an Icelandic scholar and poet who is renowned for his contributions to the preservation of Old Norse literature and mythology. His work, the Salli's Edda, is a valuable source of information about Norse mythology and literature.
In the 15th century, Salli Þórðarson (born around 1430) was an Icelandic bishop and religious leader who played a crucial role in the Icelandic Reformation. He is remembered for his efforts in translating the Bible into Icelandic and promoting the spread of Protestantism in Iceland.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Salli Halldórsson (born in 1851) was an Icelandic author and playwright who gained recognition for his literary works, including novels and plays that depicted the lives of ordinary Icelanders.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Salli. While the name may have originated in Old Norse, it has been used across different cultures and time periods, reflecting its enduring appeal and historical significance.
People
Salli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Salli as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Salli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Salli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 489 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Salli going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 700,929 US residents.
Is Salli a common name?
We classify Salli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 679 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Salli most popular?
The single biggest year for Salli was 1956, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Salli is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Salli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 643 people with the name Salli, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,246 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Salli in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Salli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Salli appears almost entirely female. Of the 647 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Salli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salli is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.1%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Salli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Salli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (563 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Salli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Salli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Salli in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Salli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Salli in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Salli can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Salli?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Salli, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.