Given name & surname
Salih
“pious”
Salih is a masculine given name from Arabic, meaning “pious.” It is used in English, Turkish, and Malay.
Meaning & origin
How it developed
From Arabic صَالِح (“pious”); its root is Arabic ص ل ح.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1973. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Salih through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 587
- 587 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2017
- 28 babies
- 2025
- 22
- #4,678 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −1%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 22 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 4,678 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 1.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 28 in 2017. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,069 as a first name in 2020; 2,365 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Salih’s family of names
Salih has a related form in Saleh. In Turkish usage, Salih continues an earlier form in صالح.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Salih has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
3 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Salih
- Salih ÖzcanTurkish-German association football player (born 1998)
- Saleh al-Arourisenior leader of Hamas (1966-2024)
- Salih MuslimSyrian Kurdish leader1951–2026
- Salih UçanTurkish association football player (born 1994)
- Salih al‑FawzanSaudi Salafist Islamic scholar (born 1933)born 1935
- Salih Mahmoud OsmanSudanese politicianborn 1957
- Saleh al-JafarawiPalestinian journalist, media personality and content creator (1997–2025)
- As-Salih SalihMamluk sultan of Egypt 1351–13541337–1360
- Saleh GomaaEgyptian association football playerborn 1993
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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