Malcome
A Scottish Gaelic name derived from the Gaelic words "mal" (disciple) and "colm" (dove).
Name Census estimates that about 56 living Americans carry the first name Malcome. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Malcome today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malcome births was 1988 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malcome. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Malcome. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
56
~ 1 in 6,120,613 Americans
Peak year
1988
9 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1994 SSA rank
#6,760
Tracked since 1917
Popularity
Malcome: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malcome from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 24 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
Malcome 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 Malcome during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malcome
The name Malcome has its roots in the Old English language and is derived from the words "mal" meaning "cross" and "colm" meaning "dove." It was originally a surname that emerged in the 11th century during the Norman conquest of England.
In the 12th century, the name Malcome appeared in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This early reference suggests the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population before the Norman invasion.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Malcome was Malcome of Monmouth, a 12th-century Benedictine monk and historian known for his influential work "Historia Regum Britanniae" (History of the Kings of Britain). This text, written around 1136, helped popularize the Arthurian legends and provided a pseudo-historical account of British history from the Trojan War to the 7th century.
In the 13th century, the name Malcome appeared in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland, a collection of financial records from the English Exchequer. This suggests the name was in use among the nobility and gentry during this period.
During the Scottish Wars of Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Malcome was a common name among Scottish warriors and nobles. One notable figure was Sir Malcome Fleming, a Scottish knight who fought alongside William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in their struggle against English rule.
Another famous bearer of the name was Malcome X (1925-1965), an influential African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. Born Malcolm Little, he later changed his surname to "X" to represent his unknown African ancestral surname that was lost during the era of slavery.
Other notable individuals with the name Malcome include Malcome Muggeridge (1903-1990), an English satirist, author, and journalist; Malcome McDowell (born 1943), a British actor known for his roles in "A Clockwork Orange" and "Caligula"; and Malcome Young (1953-2017), a Scottish singer-songwriter and co-founder of the rock band AC/DC.
People
Malcome + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malcome 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
Malcome: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malcome?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 56 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malcome 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 6,120,613 US residents.
Is Malcome a common name?
We classify Malcome as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 96 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malcome most popular?
The single biggest year for Malcome was 1988, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malcome is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Malcome a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Malcome 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.
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.