Salma
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "safety" or "peace".
Name Census estimates that about 9,887 living Americans carry the first name Salma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Salma today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Salma births was 1999 (442 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Salma. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Salma with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Salma is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
9.9K
~ 1 in 34,667 Americans
Peak year
1999
442 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2012 SSA rank
#870
Tracked since 1918
Census
Salma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,321 people with the first name Salma, which placed it at #2,161 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
#2,161
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
12,321 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
32.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Salma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salma is Hispanic at 32.2%. The next largest groups are White (30.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (21.0%). 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 Salma 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 Salma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino32.2% · 3,970
- White30.4% · 3,740
- Asian and Pacific Islander21.0% · 2,591
- Black or African American12.9% · 1,592
- Two or more races3.3% · 408
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Salma
Out of the 10,037 babies given the name Salma since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Salma as a male name
- Ranked #13,850 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 2012 (5 births)
Salma as a female name
- Ranked #870 in 2024
- 310 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (442 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Salma appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,322 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Salma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Salma from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,488 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Salma remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Salma 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 Salma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Salmas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Salma, while Nebraska, South Carolina, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 273 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Salma
The name Salma has its roots in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "salam," which means peace, safety, or well-being. The name is believed to have originated in the Middle East region during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Salma can be found in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. In the Quran, Salma is mentioned as the name of one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad. This association with a prominent figure in Islamic history has contributed to the name's enduring popularity among Muslims.
The name Salma gained widespread recognition and use across the Middle East and North Africa during the medieval Islamic period. Historical records show that several notable figures bore this name, including Salma bint Malik, a 7th-century Arab woman known for her poetry and wisdom.
In the 12th century, Salma al-Mursiya, a renowned Andalusian poet and scholar, achieved fame for her literary works and contributions to the intellectual culture of Muslim Spain. Her legacy has helped to further popularize the name in the region.
Another notable figure with the name Salma was Salma Umm al-Mu'minin, the mother of the fourth Caliph of Islam, Ali ibn Abi Talib. She played a significant role in the early Islamic community and is revered for her piety and devotion.
Throughout history, the name Salma has been carried by various influential individuals across different fields. For example, Salma Hayek, born in 1966, is a renowned Mexican-American actress, producer, and activist who has been recognized for her work in films such as "Frida" and "Desperado."
Salma Mumin, born in 1975, is a British writer and activist known for her work on issues related to race, gender, and social justice. She has authored several books, including "Miss Tylene & Her Muslim Advice Columnist Friends."
Salma Jehamu Hayat, born in 1936, was a Pakistani jurist and the first woman to be appointed as a judge in Pakistan's superior judiciary. She served as a judge on the Lahore High Court and made significant contributions to the legal system and women's rights in Pakistan.
Salma Khadra Jayyusi, born in 1926, was a renowned Palestinian academic, poet, and literary critic. She played a significant role in preserving and promoting Arab literature and culture, and her works have been widely acclaimed and translated into multiple languages.
Salma Hayek, Salma Mumin, Salma Jehamu Hayat, and Salma Khadra Jayyusi are just a few examples of the many remarkable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Salma. This name, with its deep-rooted cultural significance and association with peace and well-being, continues to be popular across various regions and communities.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Salma
People
Salma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Salma 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
Salma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Salma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,887 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Salma 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 34,667 US residents.
Is Salma a common name?
We classify Salma as "Rare". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,037 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Salma most popular?
The single biggest year for Salma was 1999, when 442 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Salma is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Salma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,321 people with the name Salma, or 4.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,161 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 Salma 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 Salma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Salma appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,322 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Salma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salma is Hispanic at 32.2%. The next largest groups are White (30.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (21.0%). 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 Salma most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Salma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.2% (3,970 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 Salma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Salma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Salma 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 Salma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Salma 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 Salma 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 share the name Salma?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.