Mahlik
Of Arabic origin, meaning "possessor", "master", or "king".
Name Census estimates that about 284 living Americans carry the first name Mahlik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mahlik today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mahlik births was 2009 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mahlik. 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.
People living today
284
~ 1 in 1,206,881 Americans
Peak year
2009
18 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,044
Tracked since 1990
Census
Mahlik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 224 people with the first name Mahlik, which placed it at #35,741 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
#35,741
National first-name rank
People counted
224
224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mahlik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahlik is Black at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Mahlik 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 Mahlik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.8% · 172
- Two or more races12.1% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 18
- White3.1% · 7
Popularity
Mahlik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mahlik from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 93 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mahlik 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 Mahlik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mahliks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mahlik
The name Mahlik is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "malik," which means "king" or "ruler." It likely emerged during the spread of Islam in the 7th century CE when Arabic names gained popularity across the Middle East and North Africa.
In Arabic culture, the name Mahlik was often given to boys in hopes that they would grow to become strong and wise leaders, like the great rulers of the past. The name's association with power and authority can be traced back to ancient Islamic texts and historical records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mahlik can be found in the writings of Al-Tabari, a renowned 9th-century Persian historian. He mentions a man named Mahlik ibn Anas, who served as a governor in Khurasan (modern-day Afghanistan and parts of Iran) during the Abbasid Caliphate.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mahlik. One of the most famous was Malik al-Ashtar (594-667 CE), a prominent military commander and companion of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph of Islam. Malik al-Ashtar was renowned for his strategic brilliance and his commitment to justice and fairness.
Another notable Mahlik was Malik Kafur (c. 1293-1316 CE), an influential military general and administrator in the Delhi Sultanate. He was born into slavery but rose through the ranks to become a powerful figure in the court of Alauddin Khalji, leading several successful military campaigns and contributing to the expansion of the Sultanate's territories.
In the 12th century, Malik Shah I (1055-1092 CE) ruled as the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire, one of the largest empires in the medieval Islamic world. He was known for his military prowess, administrative skills, and patronage of art and architecture, including the construction of the famous Jame Mosque of Isfahan.
Another notable Mahlik was Malik Ambar (c. 1548-1626 CE), an Ethiopian-born military leader who served as the Prime Minister and regent of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in the Deccan region of India. He is celebrated for his strategic genius, diplomatic skills, and his efforts to modernize the Ahmadnagar army.
While the name Mahlik has its roots in Arabic and Islamic culture, it has also been adopted and adapted by various other cultures and communities around the world, reflecting the rich diversity and cross-cultural influences that have shaped human history.
People
Mahlik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mahlik 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
Mahlik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mahlik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 284 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mahlik 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 1,206,881 US residents.
Is Mahlik a common name?
We classify Mahlik as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 288 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mahlik most popular?
The single biggest year for Mahlik was 2009, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mahlik is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mahlik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 224 people with the name Mahlik, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,741 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 Mahlik 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 Mahlik?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mahlik leans strongly male. 224 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 3 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Mahlik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahlik is Black at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Mahlik most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mahlik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.8% (172 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 Mahlik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mahlik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mahlik in the SSA data are male. 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 Mahlik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mahlik 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 Mahlik 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 Americans are named Mahlik?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.