Malanie
A feminine name derived from the Greek name Melania, meaning "the dark one" or "black".
Name Census estimates that about 843 living Americans carry the first name Malanie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Malanie today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malanie births was 2018 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malanie. 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
843
~ 1 in 406,589 Americans
Peak year
2018
38 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,828
Tracked since 1958
Census
Malanie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 559 people with the first name Malanie, which placed it at #19,094 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
#19,094
National first-name rank
People counted
559
559 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
38.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malanie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malanie is Hispanic at 38.3%. The next largest groups are White (27.5%) and Black (20.2%). 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 Malanie 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 Malanie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino38.3% · 214
- White27.5% · 154
- Black or African American20.2% · 113
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 36
- Two or more races5.7% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 10
Popularity
Malanie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malanie from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 185 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
Malanie 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 Malanie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malanies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Malanie, while New York, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malanie
Malanie is a feminine given name with origins tracing back to ancient Greece. The name is derived from the Greek word "melaina," which means "black" or "dark-colored." It is believed that the name was initially used to describe individuals with dark hair or complexion.
During the Byzantine era, the name Malanie gained popularity within the Greek-speaking regions of the Byzantine Empire. It was particularly prevalent in areas such as Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and the Greek islands.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Malanie can be found in the writings of the 4th-century Christian saint and desert mother, Melania the Elder. She was a Roman noblewoman who embraced asceticism and devoted her life to the teachings of Christianity.
In the 5th century, another notable figure named Melania the Younger, the granddaughter of Melania the Elder, also adopted the name Malanie. She was a Roman noble who followed in her grandmother's footsteps and lived a life of religious devotion and charity.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Malanie remained relatively uncommon but was still used in various parts of Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and the Byzantine Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in Western Europe can be found in the 12th century, when a French noblewoman named Malanie de Penthièvre lived during the reign of King Louis VII.
In the 16th century, Malanie de Chantloué, a French noblewoman and abbess, gained recognition for her piety and leadership within the Catholic Church.
During the 18th century, the name Malanie experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in France. Malanie de la Vallière, a French aristocrat and courtesan, was a notable figure during the reign of King Louis XIV.
In the 19th century, Malanie Calvat, a French Catholic mystic and stigmatist, gained significant attention for her reported visions and experiences related to the Catholic faith.
As the name Malanie continued to spread across Europe and other regions, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Melanie, Melany, and Melanie. However, the core meaning and origins of the name remained rooted in its Greek heritage.
People
Malanie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malanie 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
Malanie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malanie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 843 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malanie 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 406,589 US residents.
Is Malanie a common name?
We classify Malanie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 882 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malanie most popular?
The single biggest year for Malanie was 2018, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malanie is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malanie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 559 people with the name Malanie, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,094 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 Malanie 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 Malanie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malanie appears almost entirely female. Of the 566 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Malanie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malanie is Hispanic at 38.3%. The next largest groups are White (27.5%) and Black (20.2%). 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 Malanie most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Malanie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.3% (214 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 Malanie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malanie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Malanie in the SSA data are female. 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 Malanie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malanie 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 Malanie 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 are called Malanie?
Find out how many Americans are named Malanie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.