Malaika
Feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "angel" or "heavenly messenger".
Name Census estimates that about 2,501 living Americans carry the first name Malaika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Malaika today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malaika births was 2006 (86 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malaika. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Malaika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 137,047 Americans
Peak year
2006
86 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,201
Tracked since 1968
Census
Malaika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,184 people with the first name Malaika, which placed it at #7,090 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,090
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,184 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malaika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malaika is Black at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.6%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Malaika described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Malaika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.1% · 1,313
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.6% · 363
- Two or more races10.3% · 226
- White7.7% · 169
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 109
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Popularity
Malaika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malaika from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 681 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Malaika remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Malaika by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Malaika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malaikas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Malaika, while Pennsylvania, Oregon, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malaika
Malaika is a name of Arabic origin, derived from the word "Malak" which means "angel" or "messenger of God" in Arabic. The name has been used for centuries in various parts of the Arab world, as well as regions influenced by Arab culture and the spread of Islam.
The earliest recorded use of the name Malaika can be traced back to the 7th century, around the time of the birth of Islam. It is believed that the name was inspired by references to angels in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and the important role they play in Islamic theology.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Malaika was Malaika bint Anas, a 9th century Arab scholar and hadith narrator. Born in Basra, Iraq, she was renowned for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the preservation of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings.
In the 13th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Malaika al-Samarkandiyya, a renowned female poet and mystic from Samarkand, present-day Uzbekistan. Her poetry, which often explored spiritual themes and the concept of divine love, earned her widespread acclaim and a place in the literary canon of the region.
Another historical figure with the name Malaika was Malaika Mukhtar, a 19th century Sudanese warrior and leader who played a pivotal role in the Mahdist Revolt against the Turco-Egyptian rulers of Sudan. Her bravery and military prowess earned her a place in the history of Sudanese resistance and the struggle for independence.
In more recent times, the name Malaika has been associated with several notable individuals, including Malaika Arora Khan, an Indian actress, dancer, and model born in 1973, and Malaika Vaz, a Kenyan-born American actress and model born in 1986.
Throughout its history, the name Malaika has been imbued with meanings of grace, beauty, and celestial symbolism, reflecting its Arabic roots and the cultural significance of angels in the Islamic tradition. Its enduring popularity across various regions and cultures serves as a testament to its timeless appeal and the universal resonance of its meaning.
People
Malaika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malaika as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Malaika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malaika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,501 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malaika going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 137,047 US residents.
Is Malaika a common name?
We classify Malaika as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,584 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malaika most popular?
The single biggest year for Malaika was 2006, when 86 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malaika is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malaika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,184 people with the name Malaika, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,090 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Malaika in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Malaika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malaika leans strongly female. 2,166 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 24 male bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Malaika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malaika is Black at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.6%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Malaika most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Malaika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.1% (1,313 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Malaika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malaika a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Malaika in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Malaika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malaika in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Malaika can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Malaika?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.