Malikah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "queen" or "sovereign ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 982 living Americans carry the first name Malikah. It is a predominantly female name (91.8% of registrations). The average person named Malikah today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malikah births was 1979 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malikah. 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
982
~ 1 in 349,037 Americans
Peak year
1979
45 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2017 SSA rank
#9,387
Tracked since 1968
Gender
Gender distribution for Malikah
Malikah leans heavily female at 91.8% of total registrations, but 84 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Malikah as a male name
- Ranked #9,387 in 2017
- 8 male births in 2017
- Peak: 2008 (13 births)
Malikah as a female name
- Ranked #11,721 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (45 births)
Popularity
Malikah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malikah 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 267 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
Malikah 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 Malikah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malikahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Malikah, while Florida, California, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malikah
Malikah is a feminine given name derived from the Arabic word "malik," meaning "king" or "sovereign ruler." The name has its roots in the ancient Arabic language and culture, tracing back to the 7th century CE.
The name Malikah gained prominence during the Islamic Golden Age, a period of significant cultural, economic, and scientific advancements in the Islamic world. It was often associated with royalty, nobility, and positions of authority.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Malikah can be found in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. In the Quran, the term "malik" is used to refer to God as the King or Sovereign Ruler of the universe.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Malikah. One of the earliest examples is Malikah bint Huwayrith, a respected scholar and jurist who lived in the 7th century CE and played a significant role in the preservation and transmission of Islamic teachings.
Another prominent figure was Malikah al-Shamiya, a 9th-century Arab poet and writer from Damascus who was renowned for her contributions to Arabic literature and her mastery of the Arabic language.
In the 12th century, Malikah Khātūn was a prominent female ruler and the wife of the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah I. She played an influential role in the administration of the Seljuk Empire and was known for her patronage of arts and culture.
During the Mamluk period in Egypt and Syria, which lasted from the 13th to the 16th century, the name Malikah was often given to female members of the ruling elite. One notable example was Malikah Artuqiya, a princess and influential figure in the Artuqid dynasty of Amid (modern-day Diyarbakır, Turkey) in the 12th century.
In more recent times, Malikah Shabazz, the youngest daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, continues to carry on the legacy of her father's name and work as a human rights activist and author. She was born in 1965.
These examples illustrate the rich history and significance of the name Malikah across various periods and regions of the Islamic world, reflecting its association with leadership, authority, and cultural influence.
People
Malikah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malikah 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
Malikah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malikah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 982 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malikah 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 349,037 US residents.
Is Malikah a common name?
We classify Malikah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,027 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malikah most popular?
The single biggest year for Malikah was 1979, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malikah is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Malikah a female name?
Yes, 91.8% of people registered as Malikah 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.
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.