Malakye
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "messenger of God."
Name Census estimates that about 503 living Americans carry the first name Malakye. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Malakye today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malakye births was 2011 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malakye. 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 Malakye with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
503
~ 1 in 681,420 Americans
Peak year
2011
50 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,791
Tracked since 2001
Census
Malakye in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 343 people with the first name Malakye, which placed it at #26,904 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
#26,904
National first-name rank
People counted
343
343 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
37.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malakye
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malakye is White at 37.9%. The next largest groups are Black (22.7%) and Hispanic (19.0%). 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 Malakye 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 Malakye at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White37.9% · 130
- Black or African American22.7% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino19.0% · 65
- Two or more races19.0% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Malakye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malakye from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 274 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Malakye 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 Malakye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malakyes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Malakye
The name Malakye has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, deriving from the Hebrew word "mal'akh," which means "messenger" or "angel." This name gained prominence during the biblical era, particularly in the Old Testament.
In the Book of Malachi, one of the twelve minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible, the name Malakye is mentioned as a shortened form of "mal'akh Yahweh," meaning "messenger of God." This association with divine messengers and prophets has given the name a sacred and meaningful connotation within the Judeo-Christian tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Malakye can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Jewish religious manuscripts dating back to the 3rd century BCE. This suggests that the name was in use during the Second Temple period in Judea.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Malakye. One of the most prominent figures was Saint Malachy (1094-1148), an Irish Archbishop of Armagh who became renowned for his efforts to reform the church and his prophetic writings known as the "Prophecy of the Popes."
Another historical figure with this name was Malachy O'Morgair (1094-1148), an Irish saint and Archbishop of Armagh, who played a crucial role in the ecclesiastical affairs of Ireland during the 12th century.
In the 16th century, Malachy Bacon (1575-1624) was an English politician and Member of Parliament who served during the reign of King James I.
During the 17th century, Malachy Hartry (1639-1713) was an Irish-born Catholic priest and Archbishop of Armagh, known for his efforts in preserving the Catholic faith in Ireland during a period of religious persecution.
More recently, Malachy Gerard Tallack (1928-2013) was a British writer and poet who gained recognition for his works exploring themes of spirituality and nature.
While the name Malakye has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has transcended its origins and has been adopted by various cultures and communities around the world, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions across different fields and eras.
People
Malakye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malakye 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
Malakye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malakye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 503 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malakye 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 681,420 US residents.
Is Malakye a common name?
We classify Malakye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 508 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malakye most popular?
The single biggest year for Malakye was 2011, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malakye is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malakye in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 343 people with the name Malakye, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,904 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 Malakye 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 Malakye?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malakye leans strongly male. 343 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 7 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Malakye?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malakye is White at 37.9%. The next largest groups are Black (22.7%) and Hispanic (19.0%). 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 Malakye most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Malakye in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.9% (130 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 Malakye in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malakye a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Malakye in the SSA data are male. 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 Malakye still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malakye 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 Malakye 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 share the name Malakye?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.