Malay
A masculine name likely from a Sanskrit origin meaning "hill" or "mountain range".
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Malay. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Malay today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malay births was 2007 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malay. 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.
People living today
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
2007
16 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,814
Tracked since 2005
Census
Malay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 498 people with the first name Malay, which placed it at #20,655 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
#20,655
National first-name rank
People counted
498
498 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
69.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malay is Asian/Pacific Islander at 69.3%. The next largest groups are Black (21.9%) and White (3.6%). 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 Malay 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 Malay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander69.3% · 345
- Black or African American21.9% · 109
- White3.6% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 14
- Two or more races2.4% · 12
Popularity
Malay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malay from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 61 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Malay 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 Malay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malay
The name Malay has its origins in the Malay language, which is a member of the Austronesian language family and is spoken by the Malay people, who primarily inhabit the Malay Peninsula, parts of Sumatra, and the coastal areas of Borneo. The name can be traced back to the ancient Malay kingdoms that flourished in the region from the 7th century onwards.
The word "Malay" itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "Malaya," which means "mountain" or "hill." This reflects the geographical origins of the Malay people, who historically inhabited the mountainous regions of the Malay Peninsula. The name has been used for centuries within the Malay community, and its spelling has remained relatively consistent over time.
In terms of historical references, the name Malay has been mentioned in various ancient texts and records. For instance, the "Sejarah Melayu" (Malay Annals), a literary work dating back to the 16th century, contains numerous references to the Malay people and their history. Additionally, the name has been found in inscriptions and archaeological artifacts from the region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Malay was Sultan Iskandar Shah, who ruled the Malacca Sultanate in the 15th century (1411-1424). Another notable figure was Tun Perak, a legendary Malay warrior and hero who lived in the 15th century and played a crucial role in defending the Malacca Sultanate against foreign invaders.
In more recent history, several prominent individuals have borne the name Malay. Malay Kashmiri (1901-1978) was an Indian politician and diplomat who served as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Malay Roy Choudhury (1939-2022) was an eminent Indian poet, writer, and filmmaker, renowned for his contributions to Bengali literature.
Another notable figure was Malay Mukherjee (1934-2010), an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who played a significant role in preserving and promoting the Kathak dance form. Additionally, Malay Ghosh (1931-2012) was a renowned Indian classical vocalist and exponent of the Patiala gharana.
It is worth mentioning that the name Malay has also been used as a middle name or as part of compound names across different cultures and regions, further reflecting its historical and cultural significance.
People
Malay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malay 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
Malay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malay 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 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Malay a common name?
We classify Malay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malay most popular?
The single biggest year for Malay was 2007, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malay is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 498 people with the name Malay, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,655 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 Malay 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 Malay?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Malay on both sides of the split. Of the 501 people counted with this name, 236 were male (47.1%) and 265 were female (52.9%). 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 Malay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malay is Asian/Pacific Islander at 69.3%. The next largest groups are Black (21.9%) and White (3.6%). 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 Malay most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Malay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.3% (345 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 Malay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malay a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Malay 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 Malay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malay 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 Malay 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 have Malay as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.