UK boy's name
Salah
A masculine Arabic name meaning "pious" or "devout".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Salah is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Salah popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1402, with 19 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2018, with 30 births.
This profile covers 377 England and Wales registrations across 28 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 63% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 381 living people in the UK are called Salah. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Salah ranked #1402 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 19 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2018, when 30 boys were registered as Salah.
- • Salah ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #433 in 2021.
- • About 381 living people in the UK are estimated to have Salah as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1402
2024
Births in 2024
19
Latest year
Peak year
2018
30 births
Estimated living
381
2026
Meaning
What does Salah mean?
The name Salah originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in the word "salah" which means prayer or supplication in Arabic. The name is believed to have first emerged in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East region during the early days of Islam, around the 7th century AD.
The name Salah holds significant religious and cultural significance in the Islamic faith. It is one of the five pillars of Islam and refers to the obligatory daily prayers that Muslims perform five times a day, facing the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. The name is closely associated with the principles of devotion, obedience, and submission to God.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Salah can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The word "salah" appears numerous times in the Quran, emphasizing the importance of prayer in the Islamic faith. Additionally, the name is found in various historical Islamic texts and records, reflecting its widespread use among Arab and Muslim communities.
Throughout history, several prominent figures have borne the name Salah. One of the most notable is Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, also known as Saladin (1137-1193), a Kurdish Muslim sultan who led the Muslim forces during the Crusades and recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187. His military prowess and chivalry made him a legendary figure in both Muslim and Christian histories.
Another famous bearer of the name Salah was Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (1138-1193), a Kurdish military leader and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. He was a contemporary of Saladin and played a significant role in the battles against the Crusaders.
In the 13th century, Salah al-Din Khalil ibn Aybak al-Tawil (1240-1249) was a Kurdish sultan of Egypt and the founder of the Bahri Mamluk dynasty. He is known for his successful military campaigns against the Crusaders and for his efforts in strengthening the Mamluk Sultanate.
More recently, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury (born 1962) is a Bangladeshi writer, journalist, and human rights activist who has advocated for interfaith harmony and religious freedom in his country.
Salah Abdeslam (born 1989) is a French national of Moroccan descent who was convicted for his involvement in the 2015 Paris attacks, which were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of 130 people.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Salah over time
The chart below shows babies named Salah registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Salah, the clearest high point is 2018. The latest England and Wales figure is 19 births in 2024, compared with 30 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Salah by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Salah was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #1186 | 117 | 5 |
| 2010s | #1616 | 150 | 9 |
| 2000s | #1926 | 89 | 10 |
| 1990s | #2172 | 21 | 4 |
Geography
Where Salah is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Salah. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Salah ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #433 in 2021.
Across the UK
Salah in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#704 in 2018
1 years of NRS records, 3 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#433 in 2021
1 years of NISRA records, 3 total registered
Related
Names similar to Salah
- Samuel 108,505
- Sebastian 33,008
- Sam 20,889
- Stanley 16,354
- Sonny 15,028
- Sean 15,006
- Scott 12,587
- Seth 9,841
- Syed 9,050
- Stephen 8,884
- Spencer 8,333
- Steven 6,970
FAQ
Salah: questions and answers
How popular is the name Salah in the UK right now?
In 2024, Salah was ranked #1402 for boys in England and Wales, with 19 births registered.
When was Salah most popular?
The peak year on record was 2018, with 30 babies registered as Salah in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Salah?
A masculine Arabic name meaning "pious" or "devout".
How many people are called Salah in the UK?
A total of 377 babies have been registered as Salah across the 28 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 3 more in Scotland and 3 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Salah most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Salah ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #433 in 2021. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.