Malika
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "queen" or "sovereign".
Name Census estimates that about 4,743 living Americans carry the first name Malika. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Malika today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malika births was 1996 (183 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malika. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Malika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.7K
~ 1 in 72,265 Americans
Peak year
1996
183 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2001 SSA rank
#2,834
Tracked since 1966
Census
Malika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,662 people with the first name Malika, which placed it at #3,610 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
#3,610
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,662 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malika is Black at 50.5%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.6%). 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 Malika 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 Malika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.5% · 2,862
- White20.2% · 1,145
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.6% · 886
- Two or more races9.3% · 528
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 202
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 39
Gender
Gender distribution for Malika
Out of the 4,937 babies given the name Malika since 1880, 99.3% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Malika as a male name
- Ranked #10,065 in 2001
- 6 male births in 2001
- Peak: 1998 (8 births)
Malika as a female name
- Ranked #2,834 in 2024
- 59 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (183 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malika leans strongly female. 5,533 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 123 male bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Malika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malika from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,397 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Malika 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 Malika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malikas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Malika, while Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 111 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malika
The name Malika originates from the Arabic language, derived from the word "malik" meaning "king" or "sovereign." It is a feminine form of the Arabic word, often translated as "queen" or "princess." The name can be traced back to the early days of Islamic civilization in the 7th century AD.
During the medieval period, the name Malika was popular among the ruling classes and nobility in various Islamic empires and dynasties, such as the Abbasids, Fatimids, and Ottomans. It was commonly given to daughters of caliphs, sultans, and other members of the royal families.
One of the earliest and most famous references to the name Malika can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The name is mentioned in Surah An-Naml (The Ant), where it refers to the Queen of Sheba, who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Saba (present-day Yemen).
Throughout history, there have been several notable women who bore the name Malika. Malika al-Sayyida Hurra (1485-1561) was a renowned Andalusian-born queen and military leader who governed the Kingdom of Tétouan in present-day Morocco. Malika Oufkir (1953-1988) was a Moroccan writer and former prisoner who authored the autobiographical book "La Prisonnière" (The Prisoner).
Malika Ayane (born 1984) is an Italian singer-songwriter of Moroccan descent, known for her unique blend of pop, soul, and world music. Malika Favre (born 1982) is a French illustrator and artist who has worked for brands like The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Penguin Books.
Malika Haqq (born 1983) is an American television personality and best friend of Khloe Kardashian, who has appeared on the reality shows "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and "Dash Dolls." Malika Arora Khan (born 1973) is an Indian actress, model, and television presenter, best known for her work in Bollywood films and reality shows.
People
Malika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malika 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
Malika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,743 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malika 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 72,265 US residents.
Is Malika a common name?
We classify Malika as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,937 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malika most popular?
The single biggest year for Malika was 1996, when 183 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malika is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,662 people with the name Malika, or 1.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,610 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 Malika 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 Malika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malika leans strongly female. 5,533 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 123 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Malika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malika is Black at 50.5%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.6%). 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 Malika most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Malika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.5% (2,862 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 Malika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malika a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Malika 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 Malika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malika 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 Malika 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 share the name Malika?
Find out how many people share the name Malika on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.