Maleka
A feminine Arabic name meaning "queen" or "sovereign lady".
Name Census estimates that about 378 living Americans carry the first name Maleka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maleka today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maleka births was 1980 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maleka. 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 Maleka with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
378
~ 1 in 906,758 Americans
Peak year
1980
23 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,994
Tracked since 1970
Census
Maleka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 545 people with the first name Maleka, which placed it at #19,414 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
#19,414
National first-name rank
People counted
545
545 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maleka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maleka is Black at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.2%) and White (12.1%). 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 Maleka 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 Maleka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.5% · 286
- Asian and Pacific Islander27.2% · 148
- White12.1% · 66
- Two or more races5.3% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Maleka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maleka from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 133 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maleka 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 Maleka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malekas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maleka
The given name Maleka is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with its roots tracing back to the 7th century CE during the rise of Islam. The name is derived from the Arabic word "malika," which means "queen" or "sovereign." This association with royalty and nobility suggests that the name was initially bestowed upon individuals of high social standing or those who held positions of power and authority.
In the early Islamic era, the name Maleka gained recognition as it was mentioned in several Arabic literary works and historical records. One notable example is the Kitab al-Aghani, a renowned anthology of Arabic poetry and songs compiled in the 9th century CE, which includes references to women bearing the name Maleka.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Maleka can be found in various historical accounts from the medieval Islamic world. One prominent figure was Maleka al-Samarkandiyya, a 10th-century CE poet and scholar hailing from Samarkand, a major cultural center of the time. Her literary contributions, particularly in the fields of poetry and philology, earned her widespread acclaim and recognition.
Another notable individual with the name Maleka was Maleka Safiyya, the wife of the 14th-century Mamluk Sultan Al-Malik Al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun. As a prominent figure in the Mamluk court, she played a significant role in the cultural and political affairs of the time.
In the 15th century, Maleka Khanum, the daughter of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh, held a influential position in the court of her father and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature. Her legacy includes the commissioning of several architectural marvels, including the Mosque of Shah Rukh in Samarkand.
Moving forward in history, Maleka Begum, born in the late 18th century, was a renowned poet and calligrapher from the Indian subcontinent. Her literary works, which often explored themes of love and spirituality, earned her widespread recognition and a place in the annals of Urdu literature.
These are just a few notable examples of individuals who have borne the name Maleka throughout history, showcasing its presence across various cultures and time periods, particularly in the Islamic world and regions influenced by Arabic and Persian traditions.
People
Maleka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maleka 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
Maleka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maleka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 378 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maleka 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 906,758 US residents.
Is Maleka a common name?
We classify Maleka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maleka most popular?
The single biggest year for Maleka was 1980, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maleka is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maleka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 545 people with the name Maleka, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,414 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 Maleka 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 Maleka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maleka appears almost entirely female. Of the 540 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Maleka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maleka is Black at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.2%) and White (12.1%). 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 Maleka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Maleka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (286 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 Maleka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maleka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maleka 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 Maleka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maleka 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 Maleka 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 Maleka?
You can see how many people share the name Maleka on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.