Malakai
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "messenger of God".
Name Census estimates that about 16,088 living Americans carry the first name Malakai. It sits at #233 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Malakai today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malakai births was 2023 (1,581 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malakai. 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 Malakai with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Malakai is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 57 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Malakai is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,305 Americans
Peak year
2023
1,581 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#233
Tracked since 1988
Census
Malakai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,439 people with the first name Malakai, which placed it at #3,010 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
#3,010
National first-name rank
People counted
7.4K
7,439 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
30.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malakai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malakai is White at 30.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.2%) and Two or More Races (20.1%). 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 Malakai 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 Malakai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White30.2% · 2,248
- Hispanic or Latino26.2% · 1,948
- Two or more races20.1% · 1,494
- Black or African American16.8% · 1,247
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 357
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 145
Gender
Gender distribution for Malakai
Out of the 16,214 babies given the name Malakai since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Malakai as a male name
- Ranked #233 in 2024
- 1,537 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (1,575 births)
Malakai as a female name
- Ranked #14,553 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malakai appears almost entirely male. Of the 7,435 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Malakai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malakai from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 7,245 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Malakai 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 Malakai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malakais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Malakai, while Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 320 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malakai
The name Malakai derives from the Hebrew name Mal'achi, which means "messenger of God" or "my messenger." It has its origins in ancient biblical texts, specifically the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Hebrew Bible. The name Mal'achi is thought to have been given to the author of this book, who was likely a prophet living in the 5th century BCE.
The name Malakai is a variant spelling that emerged later, likely influenced by Greek and Latin translations of the Hebrew scriptures. It gained popularity among various Christian communities, particularly in English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Malakai can be found in the writings of the early Christian theologian Tertullian, who lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. He mentioned the name in his work "Against Marcion."
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Malakai. One of the earliest was Malakai of Armagh, an Irish priest and scholar who lived in the 12th century. He is known for his work in preserving and copying ancient manuscripts.
In the 16th century, Malakai Sklodowski was a Polish nobleman and military commander who fought against the Swedish invasion of Poland during the Polish-Swedish War.
During the 18th century, Malakai Hitchins was an English sailor and explorer who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyages to the Pacific Ocean. He is credited with being one of the first Europeans to set foot on the Hawaiian Islands.
In the 19th century, Malakai Brown was an American abolitionist and activist who worked alongside Frederick Douglass in the fight against slavery. He played a crucial role in the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom.
Another notable figure was Malakai Barangaroo, an Aboriginal Australian man from the Eora Nation, who lived in the early 19th century. He was a prominent figure in the resistance against British colonization and is remembered for his efforts to preserve his people's traditions and culture.
People
Malakai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malakai 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
Malakai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malakai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,088 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malakai 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 21,305 US residents.
Is Malakai a common name?
We classify Malakai as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malakai most popular?
The single biggest year for Malakai was 2023, when 1,581 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malakai is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malakai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,439 people with the name Malakai, or 2.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,010 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 Malakai 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 Malakai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malakai appears almost entirely male. Of the 7,435 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Malakai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malakai is White at 30.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.2%) and Two or More Races (20.1%). 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 Malakai most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Malakai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 30.2% (2,248 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 Malakai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malakai a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Malakai 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 Malakai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malakai 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 Malakai 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 Malakai?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.