Salmaan
A masculine name with Arabic origins meaning "safeguard" or "peace".
Name Census estimates that about 254 living Americans carry the first name Salmaan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Salmaan today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Salmaan births was 2015 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Salmaan. 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 Salmaan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
254
~ 1 in 1,349,427 Americans
Peak year
2015
17 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,598
Tracked since 1993
Census
Salmaan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 250 people with the first name Salmaan, which placed it at #33,212 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
#33,212
National first-name rank
People counted
250
250 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Salmaan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salmaan is Black at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (40.4%) and White (5.2%). 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 Salmaan 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 Salmaan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.8% · 122
- Asian and Pacific Islander40.4% · 101
- White5.2% · 13
- Two or more races4.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
Popularity
Salmaan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Salmaan 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 109 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Salmaan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Salmaan 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 Salmaan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Salmaans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Salmaan
The name Salmaan is derived from the Arabic word "salama," which means "safety" or "peace." It has its roots in the Semitic languages and can be traced back to ancient times in the Middle East.
The name Salmaan is mentioned in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam, and is associated with Salman al-Farisi, one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Salman al-Farisi, whose full name was Salman ibn Rabi'ah, was a Persian who converted to Islam and is celebrated for his wisdom and devotion.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Salmaan can be found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar and historian, Ibn Ishaq, who lived in the 8th century CE. He documented the life of Salman al-Farisi and his contributions to the early Muslim community.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Salmaan. One of the most famous was Salman the Persian (568-654 CE), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the earliest converts to Islam. He is revered for his knowledge, piety, and loyalty to the faith.
Another prominent figure was Salman Rushdie (born 1947), the award-winning British-Indian novelist and essayist, best known for his novel "The Satanic Verses," which sparked controversy and sparked debates about freedom of expression and religious sensitivities.
In the realm of sports, Salman Butt (born 1984) was a Pakistani cricketer who captained the national team but was later banned for his involvement in a spot-fixing scandal in 2010.
Salman Khan (born 1965) is a popular Indian actor and producer who has starred in numerous Bollywood films and is considered one of the most successful and influential figures in the Indian film industry.
Salman Khurshid (born 1953) is an Indian politician and former Minister of External Affairs, known for his contributions to diplomacy and international relations.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Salmaan throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance across various cultures and fields.
People
Salmaan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Salmaan 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
Salmaan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Salmaan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Salmaan 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 1,349,427 US residents.
Is Salmaan a common name?
We classify Salmaan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 257 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Salmaan most popular?
The single biggest year for Salmaan was 2015, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Salmaan is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Salmaan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 250 people with the name Salmaan, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,212 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 Salmaan 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 Salmaan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Salmaan leans strongly male. 257 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 3 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Salmaan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Salmaan is Black at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (40.4%) and White (5.2%). 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 Salmaan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Salmaan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.8% (122 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 Salmaan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Salmaan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Salmaan 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 Salmaan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Salmaan 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 Salmaan 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 many people have Salmaan as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Salmaan, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.