Saliyah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "the one who prays".
Name Census estimates that about 519 living Americans carry the first name Saliyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saliyah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saliyah births was 2010 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saliyah. 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.
People living today
519
~ 1 in 660,413 Americans
Peak year
2010
36 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,399
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Saliyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saliyah 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 253 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Saliyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saliyah 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 Saliyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saliyahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saliyah
The name Saliyah is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "sali" which means "to pray" or "to supplicate." It is believed to have first emerged during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century AD, in the Arabian Peninsula and the surrounding regions.
Saliyah is a feminine name that carries a deeply spiritual and religious significance within the Islamic tradition. It is often associated with piety, devotion, and a strong connection to one's faith. The name is found in various Islamic texts and historical records, particularly those related to the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Saliyah is in the biography of Umm Saliyah, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and the wife of Abu Talha al-Ansari. She was known for her piety, generosity, and her role in the early Islamic community.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women who have borne the name Saliyah. One such figure is Saliyah bint Husayn (1268-1339), a renowned female scholar and poet from the Mamluk era in Egypt. She was widely respected for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to literature.
Another prominent Saliyah was Saliyah al-Kurdi (1512-1570), a Syrian scholar and mystic who was celebrated for her expertise in various Islamic sciences, including hadith (prophetic traditions) and Sufism.
In the 19th century, Saliyah Marjana (1825-1902) was a renowned Egyptian calligrapher and artist known for her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works, which are still admired and exhibited in museums today.
The name Saliyah also holds significance in modern times, with notable figures such as Saliyah Karim (1936-2021), an Algerian-French writer and activist who championed women's rights and fought against colonialism.
While the exact origins of the name Saliyah are rooted in the Arabic language and Islamic tradition, it has transcended cultural boundaries and is now used by families from various backgrounds around the world, reflecting its enduring appeal and spiritual connotations.
People
Saliyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saliyah 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
Saliyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saliyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 519 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saliyah 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 660,413 US residents.
Is Saliyah a common name?
We classify Saliyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 524 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saliyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Saliyah was 2010, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saliyah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Saliyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saliyah in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.