Salman
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "the bringer of peace".
Name Census estimates that about 2,493 living Americans carry the first name Salman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Salman today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Salman births was 2015 (143 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Salman. 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 Salman with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Salman is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 137,487 Americans
Peak year
2015
143 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,067
Tracked since 1974
Census
Salman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,907 people with the first name Salman, which placed it at #4,674 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
#4,674
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,907 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
59.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Salman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and White (17.3%). 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 Salman 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 Salman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander59.0% · 2,305
- Black or African American18.9% · 737
- White17.3% · 676
- Two or more races3.8% · 149
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Popularity
Salman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Salman from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,050 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Salman remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Salman 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 Salman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Salmans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Minnesota, New York, California recorded the most babies named Salman, while Wisconsin, Missouri, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 69 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Salman
The name Salman is derived from the Arabic word "salama" which means peace, safety, or security. It has its origins in the ancient Arabic culture and language, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the 7th century CE.
One of the earliest and most notable individuals to bear this name was Salman the Persian, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. He was born in Persia in the late 6th century and later embraced Islam, becoming one of the most revered figures in Islamic history.
The name Salman also appears in various Islamic texts and scriptures, including the Quran and Hadith. It is believed to have been a popular name among early Muslim communities, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Salman who have made significant contributions in various fields. One such figure was Salman al-Farisi, a Persian scholar and mathematician who lived in the 9th century CE. He is credited with introducing several mathematical concepts, including the concept of algebraic equations.
Another prominent figure was Salman the Magnificent, the 10th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who ruled from 1520 to 1566 CE. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire reached its peak, with significant territorial expansions and cultural achievements.
In the modern era, Salman Rushdie, the Indian-British novelist, is perhaps one of the most well-known individuals with this name. He was born in 1947 and gained global recognition for his works, including the controversial novel "The Satanic Verses," which led to death threats from extremist groups.
Salman Khan, an Indian actor and philanthropist born in 1965, is another notable figure with this name. He is one of the most popular and influential actors in the Indian film industry and is also known for his humanitarian efforts through his non-profit organization, Being Human.
Lastly, Salman Masood, a Pakistani journalist and author born in 1971, has made significant contributions to the field of journalism. He has covered various conflicts and political events in South Asia and has written extensively on the region's history and culture.
People
Salman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Salman 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
Salman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Salman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,493 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Salman 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 137,487 US residents.
Is Salman a common name?
We classify Salman as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,529 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Salman most popular?
The single biggest year for Salman was 2015, when 143 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Salman is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Salman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,907 people with the name Salman, or 1.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,674 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 Salman 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 Salman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Salman appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,904 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Salman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and White (17.3%). 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 Salman most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Salman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.0% (2,305 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 Salman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Salman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Salman in the SSA data are male. 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 Salman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Salman 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 Salman 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 Salman as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.