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Mali

#3,953 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Alternate transcription of Malee

Mali has been given to 1,495 babies in the U.S. since 1967. In 2025 it ranked #3,953 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2008, with 65 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 94% girls, 6% boys all-time.

Babies named Mali, 2025

1 in 89,600

Mali over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Mali over time

In 2025, Mali went to 82% girls and 18% boys.

19672025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Mali: meaning, origin, and history

Alternate transcription of Malee

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Mali means

Mali is a alternate transcription of Malee.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Mali is used in Thai.

Another recorded pronunciation is /maː˧.ˈliː˧/ and /ma˦˥.ˈliʔ˦˥/ for Mali.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Mali → Malee. The family’s meaning is “flower or jasmine”, recorded in the naming reference for Malee.

Origin, language, and formation

Mali is used in Finnish and Norwegian.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Malee and Magdalene.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Finnish, Mali is pronounced /ˈmɑli/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,406 girls were recorded with the name Mali between 1967 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 65 in 2008; its best national rank was #2,700 in 2019.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,213 in 2020 to #3,953 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,741 in 2015 to #3,953 in 2025.

In the United States, 89 boys were recorded with the name Mali between 1976 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2021; its best national rank was #4,731 in 1976.

Over 10 years its rank rose, from #13,303 in 2015 to #9,402 in 2025.

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 Mali?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 89,600
37 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 43,400
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,953
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
62,106 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Mali 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 62,106 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Mali. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Malis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Mali was born before 2010 — so the typical Mali is around 15 today.

Median birth year
2010
About 15 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
32.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
79.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,406
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 32.1% of all recorded uses (451).

Is Mali 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
−333
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−740
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−212
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.90×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
56.9%
Peak was 2008 (65)
Years since peak
17
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
22.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,700
2019

Spellings of Mali

Mali is not the most common spelling — Mary is, with 59.9% against Mali's 0.02%.

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 Mali is used

Across 2016–2025, Mali was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 25,000 girls, against 1 in 59,006 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

14 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 25,000
  2. 2Maryland1 in 50,000
  3. 3Missouri1 in 50,000
  4. 4Tennessee1 in 50,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 50,000
  6. 6California1 in 100,000
  7. 7Florida1 in 100,000
  8. 8Georgia1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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.

Mali around the world

Where Mali 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
    #328
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2011–2025
    #539
    in 2025
  • France
    1979–2025
    #7,257
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #391
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2003–2024
    #2,463
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1967–2013
    #536
    in 2013

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

Mali by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,953
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 740
Best rank ever
#2,700
2019
Peak year
2008
65 that year
First recorded
1967
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,406
Count in 2025
37

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,402
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#4,731
1976
Peak year
2021
11 that year
First recorded
1976
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
89
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Mali

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

MalaMalinTaliMaleaMalkyMaloryMalihaMalanaMaleiaMaluMalakMaleniKhaliMalieMaliyaMaloriMaleeMalaynaMalkaMalyaMalerieMalloriMallieMaleya

Sibling names for Mali

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 Mali

Top names of 2008, Mali's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2019Girls' names starting with MThai Girl NamesThai Names