Salem Boy & girl
How popular is Salem?
#435 girl name in 2025
711 baby girls were named Salem in the US in 2025, making it the 435th most popular girl name. Another 400 boys got the name (#679 for boys).
Salem popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #435 for girls (▼ 6 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 711 girls, 400 boys |
| 10-year trend | Rising fast (+339% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #1,425 in 2015, #608 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2023 (734 girls) |
| Highest rank | #417 in 2023 |
| First recorded | 1976 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 38% boys, 62% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.8% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Salem counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Salem family of names ranked #421 for girls in 2025 (#416 the year before), with 723 babies in all.
| Spelling | Girls in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Salem | 711 | 98% |
| Saylem | 12 | 2% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Salem is most popular
Babies named Salem per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- West Virginia: 1.4 per 1,000 (38 girls)
- Kentucky: 1.4 per 1,000 (122 girls)
- Oklahoma: 1.3 per 1,000 (97 girls)
- North Carolina: 1.3 per 1,000 (290 girls)
- Arkansas: 1.2 per 1,000 (65 girls)
Salem by decade
| Decade | Baby girls | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 34 | #6,046 |
| 1980s | 88 | #5,538 |
| 1990s | 216 | #3,145 |
| 2000s | 555 | #2,358 |
| 2010s | 1,641 | #749 |
| 2020s | 3,957 | #417 |
Girl names about as popular as Salem
Questions
- Is Salem a boy or girl name?
- Salem is used for both. Over the last 10 years, 38% of babies named Salem were boys and 62% were girls.
- How popular is the name Salem?
- 711 baby girls were named Salem in the US in 2025, making it the 435th most popular girl name. Another 400 boys got the name (#679 for boys).
- When was Salem most popular?
- Salem peaked in 2023, when 734 girls were given the name. Its highest rank was #417 in 2023.
- How many people are named Salem?
- 11,178 babies have been named Salem in the US since 1880. We estimate about 11,005 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 5.
- Where is Salem most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Salem was most common in West Virginia, at 1.4 of every 1,000 girls born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.