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Saleh

#2,472 in 2025Boys' name

Pious

Saleh has been given to 1,783 babies in the U.S. since 1974. In 2025 it ranked #2,472 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 83 recorded.

Babies named Saleh, 2025

1 in 60,300

Saleh over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Saleh: meaning, origin, and history

Pious

Arabic

What Saleh means

Saleh means “pious”, associated with ṣāliḥ.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Iranian Persian صالح (sâleh) or directly from Arabic صَالِح (ṣāliḥ, literally “pious”).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Saleh is used in English and Malay. Its origins include Arabic.

Saleh comes through fa-ira صالح and Arabic صَالِح.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Salih.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Malay, Saleh is pronounced [sa.leh].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,777 boys were recorded with the name Saleh between 1974 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 83 in 2018; its best national rank was #1,831 in 2018.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,204 in 2020 to #2,472 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,348 in 2015 to #2,472 in 2025.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Saleh between 2022 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2022; its best national rank was #14,999 in 2022.

How common is Saleh?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 60,300
55 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 31,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,472
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
41,781 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Saleh 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 41,781 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Saleh. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Salehs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Saleh was born before 2012 — so the typical Saleh is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
33.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
75.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,777
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 33.3% of all recorded uses (591).

Is Saleh 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
−520
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−268
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−124
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.98×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
66.3%
Peak was 2018 (83)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,831
2018

Spellings of Saleh

Saleh is not the most common spelling — Ralph is, with 25.8% against Saleh's 0.11%.

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 Saleh is used

Across 2016–2025, Saleh was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 5,000 boys, against 1 in 18,332 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

120 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 5,000
  2. 2New York1 in 7,692
  3. 3Illinois1 in 14,286
  4. 4California1 in 25,000
  5. 5Connecticut1 in 25,000
  6. 6North Carolina1 in 100,000
  7. 7Ohio1 in 100,000
  8. 8Texas1 in 100,000

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.

Saleh around the world

Where Saleh 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
    #914
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2023–2025
    #647
    in 2025
  • France
    1983–2025
    #5,823
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1900–2020
    #443
    in 2020
  • Canada
    1993–2024
    #1,144
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2003–2012
    #771
    in 2012

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

Saleh by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,472
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 268
Best rank ever
#1,831
2018
Peak year
2018
83 that year
First recorded
1974
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,777
Count in 2025
55

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#14,999
2022
Peak year
2022
6 that year
First recorded
2022
Last recorded
2022
All-time count
6
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Saleh

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

SalimSalahSaleemSalemSalihSalmanSalarSalSallySalomonSalaarSalomeSalifSaliouSalmaanSalixSalamSalvatorSalilSalikSalvadoreSallieSalbadorSaladin

Sibling names for Saleh

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 Saleh

Top names of 2018, Saleh's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2018Boys' names starting with SArabic Boy NamesMalay Boy NamesMalay Names