boy's name
Souleymane
soo-lay-MAHN
- Origin Arabic
- Gender Boy
- Letters 10
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 6,690
France
#142
2025 births
Souleymane is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "peace," the West African form of Solomon, and it ranks 142nd in France. Its bearer is the king the Quran credits with understanding the speech of birds.
- Souleymane is a name of Arabic origin.
- Peaked in France in 2023, when 420 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,404 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1966.
Souleymane over time
Births per decade in France, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 |
| 1970s | 55 |
| 1980s | 225 |
| 1990s | 295 |
| 2000s | 750 |
| 2010s | 2,600 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,170 |
What Souleymane means
Souleymane means peace, or man of peace, from the Hebrew shalom. The Hebrew sense is wholeness and completeness rather than merely the absence of war, which is why the same root gives a greeting in both Hebrew and Arabic.
Where Souleymane comes from
Souleymane is the French spelling of the Arabic Sulayman, from the Hebrew Shelomoh, built on shalom, peace. Solomon in the Hebrew Bible is David's son, the builder of the Temple and the king who proposes cutting a baby in half to identify its mother. The Quran's Sulayman is a considerably larger figure: a prophet as well as a king, given command of the wind and the jinn and the ability to understand the speech of birds and ants, with sura 27 named for the ant that warns its colony of his approach. The -e ending in Souleymane is a West African French rendering, and the name's standing in France reflects migration from Senegal, Mali and Guinea. Süleyman the Magnificent, the sixteenth-century Ottoman sultan, is the same name again.
Souleymane in use
Souleymane ranks 142nd in France with about 420 births in 2025 and is rising in our data with a peak in 2023. Our records carry it from 1966. It is rare elsewhere — 4,865th in the United States, 5,647th in England and Wales — and the shorter Souleyman appears separately in French records at 157th, so the two spellings together stand higher than either alone.
How popular is Souleymane?
In 2025, Souleymane was given to 420 babies in France, ranking #142 that year. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Souleymane is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Souleymane is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Souleymâne | Souleymâne is a rare spelling of Souleymane, written with a circumflex and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Souleymane
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Souleymane also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Souleymane over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Souleymane in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Greek
- Solomon
Sibling names for Souleymane
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Souleymane — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Souleymane
What does the name Souleymane mean?
Souleymane means "peace," from the Hebrew shalom, by way of the Arabic Sulayman.
Is Souleymane the Arabic for Solomon?
Yes. In the Quran Sulayman is a prophet as well as a king, given command of the wind and the jinn.
Why the -e ending?
It is a West African French rendering. French registers also hold the shorter Souleyman.
How popular is Souleymane?
142nd in France, where it is rising.
Is Souleymane a girl's or a boy's name?
Souleymane is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
Is Souleymane a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Souleymane currently ranks #142 in France. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.