Malikia
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "queen" or "sovereign".
Name Census estimates that about 52 living Americans carry the first name Malikia. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Malikia today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Malikia births was 1973 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Malikia. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Malikia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
52
~ 1 in 6,591,430 Americans
Peak year
1973
7 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,329
Tracked since 1973
Gender
Gender distribution for Malikia
Malikia leans heavily female at 81.8% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Malikia as a male name
- Ranked #13,329 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 2005 (5 births)
Malikia as a female name
- Ranked #13,475 in 1998
- 6 female births in 1998
- Peak: 1973 (7 births)
Popularity
Malikia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Malikia from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 22 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
Malikia 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 Malikia 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 Malikia
The name Malikia has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "malik," which means "king" or "sovereign." The word "malik" itself is believed to have roots in the ancient Semitic languages, such as Aramaic and Hebrew.
The name Malikia is a feminine form of the masculine name Malik, which has been in use for centuries in the Arab world. It gained popularity during the Islamic Golden Age, particularly during the reigns of various Islamic dynasties and caliphates, such as the Abbasid and Umayyad caliphates.
One of the earliest known references to the name Malikia can be found in Arabic literature and poetry from the 7th and 8th centuries. Some poets and scholars of that era have mentioned women bearing this name in their works, although specific details about their identities are often scarce.
Throughout history, several notable women have carried the name Malikia. One of the earliest recorded examples is Malikia bint Abi Mansur al-Hafiz, a 10th-century Arab scholar and poet from Baghdad. She was renowned for her expertise in Arabic literature and Islamic jurisprudence.
Another notable figure was Malikia Al-Muqri, a 13th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from Morocco. She was celebrated for her spiritual teachings and her contributions to the field of Islamic mysticism.
In the 16th century, Malikia Al-Salihiyya was a prominent Ottoman calligrapher and artist. Her intricate calligraphic works adorned many mosques and palaces in Istanbul and other parts of the Ottoman Empire.
During the 19th century, Malikia Khanum was a prominent Egyptian singer and performer. She was known for her captivating voice and her contributions to the renaissance of Arabic music and dance.
In more recent times, Malikia Bouaroua was a renowned Algerian writer and activist. Born in 1938, she was a prominent voice in the struggle for women's rights and social justice in her country.
While the name Malikia has deep historical roots and significance in the Arab and Islamic world, it has also gained popularity in other cultures and regions, particularly in recent decades. However, the focus of this report is solely on the historical origins and significance of the name as a given name, rather than its modern usage or census data.
People
Malikia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Malikia 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
Malikia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Malikia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 52 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Malikia 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 6,591,430 US residents.
Is Malikia a common name?
We classify Malikia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 55 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Malikia most popular?
The single biggest year for Malikia was 1973, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Malikia is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Malikia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Malikia a female name?
Yes, 81.8% of people registered as Malikia 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 Malikia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Malikia 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 Malikia 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Malikia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.