Selim is the Turkish form of the Arabic name Salim and means "safe", "sound" or "unharmed", from the same root as the greeting salaam. Three Ottoman sultans carried the name, among them Selim I, who conquered Egypt in 1517, and it remains a classic choice in Turkey and the Balkans. In the United States Selim rose from number 5852 in 2000 to number 1880 in 2017 and has settled at number 2638 in 2025 with 50 boys.