Maleke
A masculine name of Aramaic origin meaning "messenger" or "angel".
Name Census estimates that about 198 living Americans carry the first name Maleke. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Maleke today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maleke births was 1997 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maleke. 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
198
~ 1 in 1,731,083 Americans
Peak year
1997
22 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2016 SSA rank
#13,470
Tracked since 1994
Census
Maleke in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 196 people with the first name Maleke, which placed it at #38,869 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
#38,869
National first-name rank
People counted
196
196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maleke
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maleke is Black at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.2%) and White (9.2%). 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 Maleke 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 Maleke at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.4% · 140
- Two or more races12.2% · 24
- White9.2% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
Popularity
Maleke: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maleke from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 96 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Maleke remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maleke 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 Maleke 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 Maleke
The given name Maleke is derived from the Arabic language and culture, originating in the Middle East region. It is believed to have its roots in the Arabic word "malik," which means "king" or "ruler." This suggests that the name was likely given to children with the aspiration of greatness or leadership.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maleke can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the early days of the Islamic Golden Age. It is mentioned in several historical texts and accounts from that era, often referring to individuals of noble birth or those holding positions of authority.
In the 9th century CE, a prominent figure named Maleke ibn Anas al-Maliki lived in Medina, the second holiest city in Islam. He was a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist, recognized for his contributions to the development of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, one of the four major Sunni schools of law.
During the 12th century, Maleke al-Salami, a celebrated poet from Cordoba, Spain, gained recognition for his literary works and poetic compositions. His poetry often celebrated the beauty of nature and the complexities of human emotions.
In the 14th century, Maleke al-Nuri was a revered Sufi mystic and spiritual leader from Persia (modern-day Iran). He founded a prominent Sufi order known as the Nurbakhshiya, which had a significant following in the region.
Another notable figure with the name Maleke was Maleke al-Khazraji, a 15th-century Arab navigator and explorer from Yemen. He is credited with leading several expeditions along the East African coast, contributing to the expansion of trade and cultural exchange between the Arab world and Africa.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Maleke. While the name may have evolved or been adapted over time, its origins can be traced back to the rich cultural heritage of the Arabic language and the Islamic world.
People
Maleke + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maleke 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
Maleke: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maleke?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maleke 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 1,731,083 US residents.
Is Maleke a common name?
We classify Maleke as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 201 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maleke most popular?
The single biggest year for Maleke was 1997, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maleke is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maleke in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 196 people with the name Maleke, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,869 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 Maleke 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 Maleke?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maleke leans strongly male. 186 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 8 female bearers (4.1%). 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 Maleke?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maleke is Black at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.2%) and White (9.2%). 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 Maleke most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Maleke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.4% (140 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 Maleke in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maleke a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maleke 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 Maleke still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maleke 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 Maleke 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 Maleke?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Maleke at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.