Saliou
A name of West African origin referring to a Muslim prayer.
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Saliou. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Saliou today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saliou births was 2013 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saliou. 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 Saliou with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
2013
13 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,735
Tracked since 1999
Census
Saliou in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 223 people with the first name Saliou, which placed it at #35,856 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
#35,856
National first-name rank
People counted
223
223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saliou
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saliou is Black at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and White (0.9%). 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 Saliou 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 Saliou at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.6% · 211
- Two or more races4.0% · 9
- White0.9% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Saliou: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saliou from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 59 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Saliou remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saliou 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 Saliou during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Salious live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saliou
The given name Saliou is of West African origin, rooted in the Wolof language spoken primarily in Senegal and parts of Mauritania. Its earliest known usage dates back to the 13th century during the rise of the Wolof Empire in the Senegambian region.
Saliou is derived from the Wolof word "sàliu," meaning "to pray" or "to worship," reflecting its religious and spiritual connotations within the Wolof culture. The name is closely tied to the spread of Islam in West Africa, particularly through the influence of Sufi mystics and scholars who played a significant role in the region's religious and cultural development.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Saliou can be found in the writings of the 13th-century Wolof scholar and traveler, Saliou Ndiaye, who documented his journey across the Sahara Desert and the Islamic world. His accounts provide valuable insights into the cultural and intellectual exchange between West Africa and the broader Islamic civilization during that era.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Saliou. One such individual was Saliou Mbacké (1853-1945), a renowned Senegalese Sufi leader and the founder of the Mouride Brotherhood, a influential Islamic Sufi order in West Africa. His teachings and spiritual guidance had a profound impact on the region's religious and cultural landscape.
Another prominent figure was Saliou Diallo (1862-1940), a Guinean scholar and diplomat who played a crucial role in promoting education and cultural exchange between West Africa and France during the colonial era. His contributions to preserving and promoting African literature and oral traditions were widely recognized.
In the realm of literature, Saliou Ndaw (1920-2007) was a celebrated Senegalese poet and writer whose works explored themes of identity, culture, and social justice. His poetry collection, "Les Chants de l'Ombre" (Songs of the Shadow), is considered a masterpiece of Francophone African literature.
Saliou Samb (1931-2006) was a renowned Senegalese artist and sculptor, known for his intricate wood carvings that depicted scenes from traditional Wolof life and culture. His works are celebrated for their artistic excellence and their ability to preserve and promote West African cultural heritage.
Saliou Dione (1939-2011) was a prominent Senegalese politician and diplomat who served as the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and later as the President of the National Assembly. He played a significant role in shaping Senegal's foreign policy and promoting regional cooperation in West Africa.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Saliou throughout history, each making their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of West Africa and beyond.
People
Saliou + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saliou 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
Saliou: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saliou?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saliou 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Saliou a common name?
We classify Saliou as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saliou most popular?
The single biggest year for Saliou was 2013, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saliou is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saliou in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 223 people with the name Saliou, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,856 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 Saliou 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 Saliou?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saliou leans strongly male. 208 people counted with this name were male (93.7%), compared with 14 female bearers (6.3%). 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 Saliou?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saliou is Black at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and White (0.9%). 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 Saliou most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Saliou in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (211 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 Saliou in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saliou a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saliou 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 Saliou still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saliou 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 Saliou 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 common is the name Saliou?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Saliou at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.