Malan

#11,540 in 2025Girls' name

Literal meaning not recorded

Malan has been given to 214 babies in the U.S. since 1998. In 2025 it ranked #11,540 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2012, with 17 recorded.

Babies named Malan, 2025

1 in 414,000

Malan over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Malan: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Malan means

Malan is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Malan is used in Faroese.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Faroese, Malan is pronounced [ˈmɛaːlan].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 209 girls were recorded with the name Malan between 1998 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 17 in 2012; its best national rank was #7,337 in 2012.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #10,002 in 2020 to #11,540 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #9,905 in 2015 to #11,540 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Malan between 1998 and 1998. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1998; its best national rank was #10,654 in 1998.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Malan?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 414,000; 8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 201,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #11,540; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 287,238 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Malan sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Malan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Malans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Malan was born before 2014 — so the typical Malan is around 11 today.

Median birth year: 2014; About 11 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 48.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 92.8%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 209; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 48.3% of all recorded uses (101).

Is Malan rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: −2,213; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: −1,538; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −1,635; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.73×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 47.1%; Peak was 2012 (17)
Years since peak: 13; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 35.1% average annual change
Best rank ever: #7,337; 2012

Spellings of Malan

Malan is not the most common spelling — Megan is, with 31.0% against Malan's 0.01%.

Megan31.0%440,065
Marian10.0%141,944
Maya8.7%123,587
Mila6.0%84,489
Alana4.8%68,264
Meagan2.9%41,547
Marla2.7%38,781
Malia2.2%31,606

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Malan around the world

Where Malan ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2010–2021
#5,581
in 2021

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Malan by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #11,540
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 1,538
Best rank ever: #7,337; 2012
Peak year: 2012; 17 that year
First recorded: 1998
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 209
Count in 2025: 8

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #10,654; 1998
Peak year: 1998; 5 that year
First recorded: 1998
Last recorded: 1998
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Malan

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Malai Mally Malyn Malya Malee Malie Malley Malli Malibu Malu Malkia Malyah Malaak Malone Malva Maley Malin Maleka Malaia Malik Malanii Malaiah Malahni Malkie

Sibling names for Malan

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Abagail Sydni Sydnie Annabell Shyann Rhianna Alysa Adelle

For a brother

Aaden Kale Brennen Jerimiah Jorden Gavyn Tobin Jarod

Explore around Malan

Top names of 2012, Malan's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 2012 Girls' names starting with M Faroese Girl Names