Maleki
Of Arabic origin, meaning "royal" or "kingly".
Name Census estimates that about 251 living Americans carry the first name Maleki. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Maleki today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maleki births was 2007 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maleki. 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
251
~ 1 in 1,365,555 Americans
Peak year
2007
24 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,445
Tracked since 2000
Census
Maleki in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 211 people with the first name Maleki, which placed it at #37,164 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
#37,164
National first-name rank
People counted
211
211 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
32.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maleki
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maleki is White at 32.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.6%) and Hispanic (22.7%). 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 Maleki 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 Maleki at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White32.2% · 68
- Black or African American25.6% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino22.7% · 48
- Two or more races16.6% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 6
Popularity
Maleki: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maleki from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 133 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
Maleki 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 Maleki 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 Maleki
The name Maleki has its origins in the Persian language and culture, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Persian word "malek," which means "king" or "ruler." This name was likely given to children as a symbolic wish for them to grow up and possess qualities associated with leadership and authority.
In ancient Persian mythology, there are references to a character named Maleki, who was a wise and benevolent ruler. This mythological figure may have contributed to the popularity of the name among Persian families.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Maleki was a Persian poet and scholar who lived in the 9th century CE. His full name was Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Ahmad al-Maleki, and he was known for his contributions to the field of Arabic literature and linguistics.
In the 11th century, a prominent Islamic scholar and jurist named Maleki ibn Anas founded the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, which is one of the four major Sunni schools of thought. His teachings and interpretations of Islamic law had a significant impact on the religious and legal traditions of the Muslim world.
During the Safavid Dynasty in Persia (1501-1736), there was a renowned calligrapher named Maleki Qumi, who was celebrated for his mastery of the Nasta'liq script. His works were highly sought after and adorned the walls of mosques and palaces throughout the region.
In more recent history, one of the most famous individuals with the name Maleki was Mohammad Maleki (1933-2019), an Iranian politician and diplomat who served as the President of the United Nations Security Council in 1988 and later became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran.
Another notable figure was Maleki al-Amin (1917-2014), an Iraqi writer, poet, and journalist who played a significant role in the Iraqi literary scene and was known for his contributions to preserving and promoting Arabic language and culture.
These are just a few examples of the individuals who have carried the name Maleki throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields ranging from literature and scholarship to politics and diplomacy.
People
Maleki + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maleki 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
Maleki: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maleki?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 251 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maleki 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 1,365,555 US residents.
Is Maleki a common name?
We classify Maleki as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maleki most popular?
The single biggest year for Maleki was 2007, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maleki is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maleki in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 211 people with the name Maleki, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,164 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 Maleki 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 Maleki?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maleki leans strongly male. 209 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 7 female bearers (3.2%). 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 Maleki?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maleki is White at 32.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.6%) and Hispanic (22.7%). 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 Maleki most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maleki in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.2% (68 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 Maleki in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maleki a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maleki 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 Maleki still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maleki 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 Maleki 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 Maleki as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Maleki, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.