Salma — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: س-ل-م (s-l-m), "to be whole, sound, free of defect or harm". Salmā is the feminine of the elative aslam: the safest, the soundest — she who is unblemished and secure. The root's core is wholeness rather than quiet; peace follows from a thing being intact, not the other way round.

From the same root: salām (peace, and as-Salām is among the names of God), islām (submission that brings one into safety), muslim, sallama (to greet, to hand over intact), taslīm, salīm (sound — the Qur'an speaks of coming to God with a sound heart, qalb salīm, in ash-Shuʿaraʾ 26:89), sulam (a ladder, what carries you up safely), and the names Salim, Salman, Salima, Sulayman and Salam.

A note on form: Salmā is a diptote in Arabic grammar, meaning it refuses the full set of case endings — a class that includes many old feminine proper names. It is one of the oldest attested Arabic women's names, common in poetry long before it became a modern given name.

Spellings: Salma, Selma (Turkish, very common), Salma (Indonesian), Salma (Urdu), Salma or Selma (French/Maghrebi), سلمى.

Pronunciation: SAL-maa — stress on the first syllable; the final ā is written with a yāʾ in Arabic but pronounced as a long a.

Masculine counterpart: Salim, and Aslam as the elative proper.