Salma
Feminine · Arabic roots · “safe”
Salma is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 10,311 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Salma comes from the Arabic root s-l-m — the same three letters behind salaam and Islam — and carries the sense of being safe and unharmed. It turns up in classical Arabic verse as a name for the beloved, and it is still given across the Arab world, Turkey and the Balkans, in Swahili-speaking Muslim communities, and in Spanish-speaking families. Two even syllables, and it spells itself the moment you hear it.
How old is the name Salma?
Salma first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Salma alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 10,000 people named Salma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Salma most popular?
Salma peaked in 1999, reaching #569 nationally. Today it ranks #936, 367 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Salma appears on this list:
Works in Arabic families too:
Where it comes from
From Salim / salima (Arabic root s-l-m) to Salma
The story of Salma
The name belongs to the oldest layer of Arabic naming, built on the root s-l-m that also produces salaam, Islam and the names Salim and Salman. Salma appears in classical Arabic poetry as the name of the beloved, alongside Layla and Hind, which kept it in literary circulation for centuries. Carried by Arabic through North Africa, the Levant, East Africa and into Ottoman lands, it settled as Selma in Turkish and Bosnian usage while Salma stayed the standard Arabic form. It reached the United States along several roads at once — Levantine and North African immigration, and Spanish-speaking families in Mexico and the Southwest, which is much of why California, Texas and Florida hold the name most strongly today.
Meaning
safe, sound, unharmed
From the Arabic root s-l-m, which carries the ideas of safety, soundness and peace; the masculine counterparts are Salim and Salman.
How the name formed
- Salim / salimaArabic root s-l-m
- سلمىSalmā
- Salma
- Selma
Related forms: سلمى · Selma · Selma · Salma · سلمیٰ · Salma
Pronouncing Salma
SAL-muh
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Arabic the final vowel is fuller and longer — closer to SAL-maa — and many families use both versions depending on who is speaking.
Nicknames for Salma
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1918
- Most girls named
- 1999442 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #569reached in 1999
- Change vs 2024
- −10.3%278 in 2025, from 310
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Salma in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- سلمى in Arabic — transliteration
- Selma in Turkish — related form
- Selma in Bosnian — related form
- Salma in Spanish — same name
- سلمیٰ in Urdu — transliteration
- Salma in Swahili — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Salmas among us
people named Salma are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 5,782 born in 2025 was named Salma
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Tawnya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Salma's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tawnya climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tawnya's path sketches the road Salma is walking now.
Salma sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Salma is headed
Salma should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Salma beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Salma in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, two syllables, and spelled the way it sounds in English — no dictation problems beyond one common mix-up.
- Works in Arabic, Turkish, Bosnian, Spanish and Swahili-speaking settings without translation or respelling.
- Already complete at two syllables, so no nickname is required, though Sal and Salmita exist for those who want one.
- An unbroken presence in American records across many generations, without ever becoming a crowded name.
- Strongly established in the three most populous states, so it is familiar to a great many ears.
- Selma is the constant near-miss: same root, different spelling, and it is well known in the US both as a city in Alabama and as a European given name. Expect to correct the vowel fairly often.
- The name is rare enough that a Salma will likely be the only one in her school — pleasant for some children, tiring for others who would rather not explain their name each September.
- For many Americans the name arrives already attached to one internationally famous actress. That association is friendly, but it is the first thing some people will say.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Salma to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Salma
Feminine · Arabic roots · #936 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Salmas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 10,000 people named Salma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Salma in 2025?
- Salma ranks #936 among US girl names in 2025, with 278 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Salma?
- About 1 in every 5,782 US girls born in 2025 was named Salma — 278 in all.
- Will my child share the name Salma with classmates?
- Salma will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Salma
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kimber#936 · Alianna#938 · Landry#933 · Aleia#933 · Ayra#939 · Kallie#933 · Tallulah#939 · Ailanny#932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Salma? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Salma and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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