Salwa
Feminine · “consolation”
Salwa is consolation in Arabic: the comfort that comes after grief, the thing that makes a loss bearable. The same word names the quail in the account of the wilderness, where manna and quails are sent to a hungry people, so the name carries both senses at once, solace and the bird that brought it.
How old is the name Salwa?
Salwa first appears in US birth records in 1961 — 64 years ago. The typical Salwa alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 900 people named Salwa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Salwa most popular?
Salwa peaked in 2018, reaching #3739 nationally. Today it ranks #4758, 1,019 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Salwa
Arabic builds names from ordinary words, and this one has been in use across the Levant, Egypt and North Africa for centuries, given by Christian and Muslim families alike. Its double sense is old: classical dictionaries record both the abstract meaning and the bird, and commentators on the desert story have connected them for a thousand years. The name came to American records with Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian families, and its short shape has kept it intact in transliteration.
Meaning
consolation, solace
Arabic salwa, comfort or consolation, from a root meaning to be consoled or to forget one's grief. The same word is used for the quail in the Qur'anic and biblical account of manna and quails in the desert.
Pronouncing Salwa
SAL-wah
Two syllables, stress in front, both vowels open. English speakers say it correctly on the first try more often than not.
Nicknames for Salwa
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
- 1961
- Most girls named
- 201740 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3739reached in 2018
- Change vs 2024
- −12.5%28 in 2025, from 32
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.
Salwa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- سلوى in Arabic — transliteration
- Selva in Turkish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Minnesota.
Salwas among us
people named Salwa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was named Salwa
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 Tiya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Salwa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tiya climbed just as high around 1981, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tiya's path sketches the road Salwa is walking now.
Salwa 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 Salwa is headed
Salwa 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.
Salwa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Salwa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is warm, documented and easy to state in one word.
- Five letters and two syllables make it simple in any language.
- It is used by Christian and Muslim Arab families alike, so it carries no single affiliation.
- Salwa and Selwa are both used in transliteration, so records within a family can differ.
- It is short enough to offer no formal register to move up to.
- English readers sometimes see the word salsa or Salma and write one of those instead.
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What they receive
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Salwa
Feminine · #4758 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Salwas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Salwa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Salwa in 2025?
- Salwa ranks #4758 among US girl names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Salwa?
- About 1 in every 57,402 US girls born in 2025 was named Salwa — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Salwa with classmates?
- Salwa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Salwa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marylou#4758 · Landon#4758 · Lexa#4758 · Alysia#4758 · Ixchel#4758 · Parisa#4758 · Jumana#4758 · Berenice#4758
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Salwa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Salwa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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