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Malek

#1,472 in 2025Boys' name

Alternate transcription of Maalik

Malek has been given to 3,092 babies in the U.S. since 1974. In 2025 it ranked #1,472 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 151 recorded.

Babies named Malek, 2025

1 in 27,400

Malek over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Malek: meaning, origin, and history

Alternate transcription of Maalik

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Malek means

Malek is a alternate transcription of Maalik.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Malek → Maalik. The family’s meaning is “owner, possessor, master”, recorded in the naming reference for Maalik.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Maalik.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,086 boys were recorded with the name Malek between 1974 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 151 in 2023; its best national rank was #1,278 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,393 in 2020 to #1,472 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,011 in 2015 to #1,472 in 2025.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Malek between 2011 and 2011. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2011; its best national rank was #16,058 in 2011.

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.

How common is Malek?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 27,400
121 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 14,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,472
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
18,992 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Malek sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 5002%

Put another way: gather 18,992 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Malek. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Maleks were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Malek was born before 2011 — so the typical Malek is around 14 today.

Median birth year
2011
About 14 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
29.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
77.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,086
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 29.9% of all recorded uses (924).

Is Malek 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
−42
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−79
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+539
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.68×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
80.1%
Peak was 2023 (151)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,278
2023

Spellings of Malek

Malek is not the most common spelling — Mark is, with 45.8% against Malek's 0.10%.

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.

Where Malek is used

Across 2016–2025, Malek was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 5,263 boys, against 1 in 13,019 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

119 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 5,263
  2. 2New York1 in 7,143
  3. 3New Jersey1 in 7,692
  4. 4California1 in 10,000
  5. 5Florida1 in 11,111
  6. 6Illinois1 in 16,667
  7. 7Ohio1 in 16,667
  8. 8Pennsylvania1 in 16,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Malek around the world

Where Malek 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
    1996–2025
    #1,124
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2004–2024
    #727
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    2019–2024
    #785
    in 2024
  • France
    1943–2025
    #929
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1994–2024
    #475
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1999–2013
    #499
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Malek

People whose public names include Malek, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Malek in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Malek. Linked forms have their own page here.

Malik

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Malek by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,472
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 79
Best rank ever
#1,278
2023
Peak year
2023
151 that year
First recorded
1974
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,086
Count in 2025
121

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#16,058
2011
Peak year
2011
6 that year
First recorded
2011
Last recorded
2011
All-time count
6
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Malek

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

MaleekMalakiMaliqMalcomMalakhiMalikiMaliekMalikaiMaliqueMalykMalvinMalickMalakAlekMalikMaloneMalachaiMalachyMalakaiMalichiMalakyeMalosiMalikyeMalon

Names with a curve like Malek

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Malek, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MicaiahSaifAmmarKiranShayanTylanShivJacariCiaranYakovEsaiKainoa

Sibling names for Malek

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

Explore around Malek

Top names of 2023, Malek's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2023Boys' names starting with M