Malia
Of Hawaiian origin meaning "calm" or "shaded by the calm".
Name Census estimates that about 30,063 living Americans carry the first name Malia. It sits at #326 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Malia today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malia births was 2009 (1,700 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malia. 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 Malia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Malia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
30K
~ 1 in 11,401 Americans
Peak year
2009
1,700 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#326
Tracked since 1919
Census
Malia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 23,945 people with the first name Malia, which placed it at #1,424 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
#1,424
National first-name rank
People counted
24K
23,945 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
30.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malia is White at 30.3%. The next largest groups are Black (23.5%) and Hispanic (18.5%). 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 Malia 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 Malia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White30.3% · 7,249
- Black or African American23.5% · 5,624
- Hispanic or Latino18.5% · 4,422
- Two or more races18.1% · 4,325
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.6% · 2,062
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 263
Popularity
Malia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malia from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 11,138 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Malia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Malia 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 Malia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. California, Hawaii, Florida recorded the most babies named Malia, while New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 576 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malia
The name Malia is of Hawaiian origin, derived from the Hawaiian word "malia," meaning "calm" or "peaceful." It is a name that has been used in the Hawaiian culture for centuries, reflecting the serene beauty and tranquility of the islands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Malia can be found in ancient Hawaiian chants and stories, where it was often used to describe the gentle breeze or the calm ocean waters. The name gained popularity among Hawaiian families, who saw it as a fitting name for their daughters, embodying the essence of the island's peaceful spirit.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Malia. One such figure was Malia Kaʻahumanu (1768-1832), a powerful Hawaiian queen and regent who played a pivotal role in the unification of the Hawaiian Islands during the early 19th century. Her influence and leadership were instrumental in shaping the course of Hawaiian history.
Another notable Malia was Malia Pele (1843-1905), a Hawaiian princess and chieftess who was known for her beauty and grace. She was highly respected within the Hawaiian community and served as a prominent figure in the preservation of Hawaiian culture and traditions.
In more recent times, Malia Obama (born 1998), the eldest daughter of former US President Barack Obama, has brought renewed attention to the name Malia. Her presence on the national and international stage has contributed to the growing popularity of the name across various cultures.
Beyond Hawaii, the name Malia has also found its way into other cultures and languages. In Swahili, for example, the name "Malia" means "wealthy" or "prosperous," reflecting a different cultural interpretation of the name's meaning.
Regardless of its cultural origins, the name Malia continues to captivate with its gentle and soothing connotations, serving as a reminder of the beauty and serenity found in nature and the human spirit.
People
Malia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malia 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
Malia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30,063 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malia 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 11,401 US residents.
Is Malia a common name?
We classify Malia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30,729 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malia most popular?
The single biggest year for Malia was 2009, when 1,700 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malia is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 23,945 people with the name Malia, or 7.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,424 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 Malia 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 Malia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malia appears almost entirely female. Of the 23,945 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Malia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malia is White at 30.3%. The next largest groups are Black (23.5%) and Hispanic (18.5%). 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 Malia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Malia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 30.3% (7,249 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 Malia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Malia 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 Malia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malia 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 Malia 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 the name Malia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.