Name Awesome

Salah

#3,299 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Prayer

Salah has been given to 1,185 babies in the U.S. since 1972. In 2025 it ranked #3,299 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2019, with 49 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 84% boys, 16% girls all-time.

Babies named Salah, 2025

1 in 92,100

Salah over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Salah over time

In 2025, Salah went to 38% girls and 62% boys.

19722025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Salah: meaning, origin, and history

Prayer

Arabic

What Salah means

Salah means “prayer”, associated with ṣalāh.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

As an Islamic/Arabic surname, as well as a Jewish adoption of it, from صَلاة (ṣalāh, “prayer”) or صَلاح (ṣalāḥ, “righteousness”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Salah (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Salah is used in English. Its origins include Arabic.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 990 boys were recorded with the name Salah between 1972 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 49 in 2019; its best national rank was #2,651 in 2019.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,004 in 2020 to #3,299 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,760 in 2015 to #3,299 in 2025.

In the United States, 195 girls were recorded with the name Salah between 2002 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 29 in 2024; its best national rank was #4,756 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #14,810 in 2020 to #5,680 in 2025.

How common is Salah?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 92,100
36 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 47,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,299
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
63,832 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Salah sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 63,832 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Salah. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Salahs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Salah was born before 2010 — so the typical Salah is around 15 today.

Median birth year
2010
About 15 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
31.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
74.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
990
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 31.6% of all recorded uses (313).

Is Salah rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+208
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+705
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+461
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.24×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
73.5%
Peak was 2019 (49)
Years since peak
6
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
22.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,651
2019

Spellings of Salah

Salah is not the most common spelling — Ralph is, with 35.7% against Salah's 0.09%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Salah is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Salah was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 586,060 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 100,000
  2. 2California1 in —
  3. 3Illinois1 in —
  4. 4Michigan1 in —
  5. 5New York1 in —
  6. 6Ohio1 in —
  7. 7Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Salah has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Salah is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Salah was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 2,046,820 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Salah has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Salah around the world

Where Salah ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,538
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2018–2018
    #704
    in 2018
  • Northern Ireland
    2021–2021
    #433
    in 2021
  • Ireland
    2022–2022
    #779
    in 2022
  • France
    1936–2025
    #947
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2012
    #533
    in 2012
  • Canada
    1993–2024
    #2,550
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1984–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Salah by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,299
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 705
Best rank ever
#2,651
2019
Peak year
2019
49 that year
First recorded
1972
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
990
Count in 2025
36

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#5,680
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 9,130
Best rank ever
#4,756
2024
Peak year
2024
29 that year
First recorded
2002
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
195
Count in 2025
22

Names similar to Salah

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

SalihSalehSalimSaleemSalarSalemSallySalmanSalaarSalomeSalifSaliouSalSelahSalmaanSalomonAllahSalixSalamSalvatorSalilSalikSallieAbdallah

Sibling names for Salah

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Salah

Top names of 2019, Salah's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2019Boys' names starting with S