Given name & surname
Salim
“one who is peaceful”
Salim is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “one who is peaceful.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “one who is peaceful.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1960. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Salim through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,005
- 2,005 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 65 babies
- 2025
- 60
- #2,328 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +6%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 60 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,328 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 5.7% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, California and Minnesota and Pennsylvania shared the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6 each). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,220 as a first name in 2020; 3,864 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.
Salim’s family of names
Salim has a related form in Salem. In French usage, Salim has a conventional equivalent in the English form Saleem. Salim has a related form in Saleem.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Salim has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
4 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 5
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.
See also 19
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Salim
- Salim AliIndian ornithologist (1896-1987)
- Salim Al-HussLebanese statesman (1929–2024)
- Salim Ahmed SalimTanzanian politician and diplomatborn 1942
- Salim IdrisSyrian military officer (born 1958)born 1957
- Salim BarakatSyrian-Swedish writerborn 1951
- Salim KhanIndian actor and screenwriterborn 1935
- Salim ChishtiSufi saint of the Chishti Order during the Mughal Empire in India1478–1572
- Salim KechioucheFrench actorborn 1979
- Salim Al-Mubarak Al-SabahMonarch of Kuwait (1917 - 1921)1864–1921
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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