Malayna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially combining the elements "Malay" and "na".
Name Census estimates that about 1,349 living Americans carry the first name Malayna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Malayna today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malayna births was 2004 (106 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malayna. 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.
Key insights
- • Malayna is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 254,080 Americans
Peak year
2004
106 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,607
Tracked since 1987
Census
Malayna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,101 people with the first name Malayna, which placed it at #11,583 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
#11,583
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,101 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malayna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malayna is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Two or More Races (11.4%). 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 Malayna 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 Malayna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.7% · 646
- Hispanic or Latino18.7% · 206
- Two or more races11.4% · 126
- Black or African American8.0% · 88
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 13
Popularity
Malayna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malayna from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 576 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
Malayna 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 Malayna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malaynas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the most babies named Malayna, while Indiana, Florida, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malayna
The name Malayna is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the late 20th century. It appears to be a combination of the names Malaya and Alayna, both of which have their own linguistic roots.
Malaya is a geographic region in Southeast Asia comprising the modern-day nations of Malaysia and parts of Indonesia and Thailand. The name is derived from the Sanskrit term "Malaya Dwipa," meaning "mountain land" or "land of hills." It's possible that Malayna was created as a way to pay tribute to this region's rich cultural heritage.
Alayna, on the other hand, is a variant of the name Alaina, which has its origins in the Greek name Alana. This name is thought to be a feminine form of the name Alan, which itself is derived from the Breton word "alen," meaning "little rock" or "harmony."
While there are no known historical figures specifically named Malayna, there are a few notable individuals who have borne names similar to its component parts. One such person is Malaya Watson, an American actress born in 1992 who has appeared in various television shows and films.
Another is Alayna Govender, a South African businesswoman and entrepreneur born in 1981, who co-founded the successful technology company Future Females. Additionally, there is Alaina Huffman, a Canadian actress born in 1979, known for her roles in television series such as Stargate Universe and Supernatural.
Furthermore, the name Alana has been used by several historical figures, including Alana Beard, an American professional basketball player born in 1982, and Alana de la Garza, a Mexican-American actress born in 1976, known for her roles in Law & Order and FBI.
Lastly, there is Alaina Reed Hall, an American actress and singer who lived from 1946 to 2009. She was best known for her roles in the television series 227 and Sesame Street.
While the name Malayna may be relatively new, it appears to be a creative combination of cultural and linguistic elements, potentially drawing inspiration from various regions and traditions around the world.
People
Malayna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malayna 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
Malayna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malayna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,349 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malayna 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 254,080 US residents.
Is Malayna a common name?
We classify Malayna as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,367 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malayna most popular?
The single biggest year for Malayna was 2004, when 106 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malayna is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malayna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,101 people with the name Malayna, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,583 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 Malayna 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 Malayna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malayna appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,099 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Malayna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malayna is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Two or More Races (11.4%). 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 Malayna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Malayna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (646 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 Malayna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malayna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Malayna 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 Malayna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malayna 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 Malayna 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 named Malayna?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Malayna at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.