Salem
A name drawn from the biblical place-name Jerusalem, meaning “peace,” and also used as a surname from association with the town name Salem.
The #4,215 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,738 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Salem is most famously known as a biblical place-name, from Hebrew shalom, meaning “peace” or “peaceful.” In surname use, it is usually understood as a locational or adopted name taken from the place-name Salem, especially in English-speaking contexts where biblical and place names became personal names or surnames. The surname may therefore reflect either direct reference to the biblical Salem or, in some cases, descent from a place called Salem.
History
The name Salem entered English onomastic use largely through biblical and classical learning, and it appears in early-modern naming as both a given name and a surname. In North America, it also became associated with settlement names such as Salem, Massachusetts, which helped keep the form visible in records. Because the surname can arise from multiple place-name pathways, different bearers may not share a single family origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The biblical Salem is traditionally linked with peace, which is why the name has long carried a calm, favorable association in English naming traditions.
From the historical record
“Argue, and Mr. Countsell, all live in New York ; as does Mr. Wrltmlre — a most suggestive name. J. G. Fee, of Madison, Ky., is a clergyman, having apparently mistaken his profession. Pulling and Pynchon was an old law firm in Salem, colloqui- ally called Pullem and Pincliem, Mr. Sheard, of Toronto, has a name…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom