Malikai
An English name of Hawaiian origin referring to royalty.
Name Census estimates that about 1,943 living Americans carry the first name Malikai. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Malikai today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malikai births was 2022 (148 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malikai. 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 Malikai with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Malikai is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 176,405 Americans
Peak year
2022
148 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,331
Tracked since 1997
Census
Malikai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,033 people with the first name Malikai, which placed it at #12,156 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
#12,156
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,033 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
25.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Malikai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malikai is Hispanic at 25.4%. The next largest groups are White (25.2%) and Black (24.2%). 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 Malikai 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 Malikai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino25.4% · 262
- White25.2% · 260
- Black or African American24.2% · 250
- Two or more races20.7% · 214
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Malikai
Out of the 1,959 babies given the name Malikai since 1880, 99.7% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Malikai as a male name
- Ranked #1,331 in 2024
- 144 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (148 births)
Malikai as a female name
- Ranked #17,086 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2019 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malikai leans strongly male. 1,025 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 11 female bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Malikai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malikai from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 819 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
Malikai 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 Malikai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Malikais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Malikai, while Missouri, Colorado, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Malikai
The name Malikai has its roots in the Hawaiian language and culture, originating from the Polynesian islands of the Pacific Ocean. It is a combination of two Hawaiian words: "mali" meaning "calm" or "peaceful," and "kai" meaning "ocean" or "sea." Thus, Malikai can be interpreted as "calm sea" or "peaceful ocean."
In ancient Hawaiian mythology, the name was often associated with the god Kanaloa, one of the major deities in the Hawaiian pantheon. Kanaloa was revered as the god of the ocean, and his name means "the free one" or "the unrestricted." The connection between Malikai and Kanaloa suggests that the name may have been given to individuals with a strong spiritual connection to the sea or those born near the ocean.
The earliest recorded use of the name Malikai can be traced back to the 18th century, when Hawaiian culture and language were first documented by European explorers and missionaries. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Malikai Kekuanaoa, a high chief and advisor to King Kamehameha III, who lived from 1790 to 1868.
Another notable figure with the name Malikai was Malikai Wilcox, a Hawaiian scholar and historian born in 1838. He played a significant role in preserving and documenting Hawaiian culture, language, and traditions during the tumultuous period of Western colonization in the 19th century.
In the 20th century, Malikai Morse, a Hawaiian artist and sculptor, gained recognition for his intricate wood carvings and traditional Hawaiian artwork. He was born in 1919 and passed away in 1992.
Malikai Dudoit, a professional surfer from Hawaii, made a name for himself in the world of competitive surfing in the 1980s and 1990s. He was known for his graceful and powerful surfing style, which embodied the essence of the name Malikai – a calm and peaceful mastery of the ocean.
Another prominent figure with the name Malikai was Malikai Moore, a Hawaiian musician and composer who helped popularize traditional Hawaiian music in the mid-20th century. He was born in 1920 and his compositions showcased the beauty and rhythms of the Hawaiian islands.
While the name Malikai has its roots in Hawaiian culture, it has gained popularity worldwide, particularly among those drawn to its peaceful and oceanic connotations. However, its historical significance remains deeply rooted in the islands of Hawaii and the rich cultural heritage of the Polynesian people.
People
Malikai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malikai 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
Malikai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malikai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,943 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malikai 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 176,405 US residents.
Is Malikai a common name?
We classify Malikai as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,959 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malikai most popular?
The single biggest year for Malikai was 2022, when 148 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malikai is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Malikai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,033 people with the name Malikai, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,156 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 Malikai 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 Malikai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Malikai leans strongly male. 1,025 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 11 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Malikai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Malikai is Hispanic at 25.4%. The next largest groups are White (25.2%) and Black (24.2%). 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 Malikai most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Malikai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 25.4% (262 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 Malikai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malikai a male name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Malikai 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 Malikai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malikai 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 Malikai 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 are called Malikai?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.