Salem

What Salem means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Salem yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,425 in 2015, #435 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Salem?

US: Rising: up from #1425 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2023, when 734 girls got the name (#417 that year). First in the US records in 1976.

How common

• About 1 in 2,261 baby girls in the US in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WV (2.36 per 1,000 girls), KY (1.57 per 1,000 girls), KS (1.44 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Salem is #435 in the US. It is not in the England & Wales list for 2025.

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 64.0% of US babies named Salem were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Salma278 US · 63 E&W
• Salome239 US · 15 E&W
• Saylem12 US
• Salam7 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Salem

Girls

• Noah#624Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,588 in 2015, #624 in 2025
• Ezra#833Editor’s note Up from #1,199 in 2015 to #833 in 2025 in the US
• Amira#132“princess”^*
• Maryam#351Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #52 vs #351 in 2025
• Eliza#115Editor’s note Up from #175 in 2015 to #115 in 2025 in the US
• Rivka#628Same root as Rebecca, meaning “enchantingly beautiful, captivating…^*

For a brother

• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Ezra#20Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #93 in 2015, #20 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Musa#469Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #64 vs #469 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Salem’s. Rank is US 2025.