Melek
Melek is a Turkish name meaning "angel", derived from the Arabic word "malik".
Name Census estimates that about 604 living Americans carry the first name Melek. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Melek today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melek births was 2022 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melek. 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 Melek with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
604
~ 1 in 567,474 Americans
Peak year
2022
105 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,948
Tracked since 1987
Census
Melek in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 520 people with the first name Melek, which placed it at #20,025 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
#20,025
National first-name rank
People counted
520
520 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melek
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melek is White at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Melek 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 Melek at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.1% · 401
- Black or African American11.0% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 35
- Two or more races3.5% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Melek
Melek leans heavily female at 89.0% of total registrations, but 67 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Melek as a male name
- Ranked #13,504 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1995 (7 births)
Melek as a female name
- Ranked #2,948 in 2024
- 56 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (98 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melek leans strongly female. 421 people counted with this name were female (81.6%), compared with 95 male bearers (18.4%).
Popularity
Melek: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melek from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 342 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
Melek 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 Melek during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meleks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Melek, while New Jersey, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Melek
The name Melek has its roots in the Arabic and Turkish languages, where it carries the meaning of "angel" or "celestial being." This name has been in use since ancient times, with records dating back to the 7th century AD during the rise of Islam.
In Arabic, the word "malak" means "angel," and the name Melek is a variant or diminutive form of this word. It was commonly given to girls as a way to bestow upon them the blessings and protection of angels. The name was also popular among Muslims living in regions that are now part of modern-day Turkey, where it evolved into the Turkish spelling of "Melek."
One of the earliest known references to the name Melek can be found in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. In the Quran, the word "malak" is used numerous times to refer to angels, celestial beings who serve as messengers of God.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Melek. One of the earliest recorded examples is Melek Khanum (1472-1505), a Circassian princess who became the wife of Sultan Bayezid II, the Ottoman ruler in the late 15th century.
Another famous Melek was Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588-1662), an Ottoman statesman and grand vizier who served under Sultan Murad IV and Sultan Ibrahim. He played a significant role in the administration of the Ottoman Empire during a period of expansion and military conquests.
In the 19th century, Melek Hanim (1855-1945) was a Turkish painter and one of the first women artists in the Ottoman Empire. She studied at the prestigious Imperial School of Fine Arts in Istanbul and is known for her realistic portraiture.
Melek Taus, also known as the Peacock Angel, is a prominent figure in the Yazidi religion, an ancient faith practiced by the Yazidi people of northern Iraq and parts of Syria and Turkey. In Yazidi mythology, Melek Taus is revered as the leader of the angels and a manifestation of the divine.
More recently, Melek Moshen (1929-2013) was an Egyptian writer, journalist, and feminist activist. She was a prominent voice for women's rights in the Arab world and published numerous works on gender equality, social issues, and literature.
These examples showcase the rich history and cultural significance of the name Melek, which has been bestowed upon individuals from various backgrounds and eras, reflecting its angelic and celestial connotations.
People
Melek + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melek 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
Melek: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melek?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 604 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melek 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 567,474 US residents.
Is Melek a common name?
We classify Melek as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 609 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melek most popular?
The single biggest year for Melek was 2022, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melek is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melek in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 520 people with the name Melek, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,025 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 Melek 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 Melek?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melek leans strongly female. 421 people counted with this name were female (81.6%), compared with 95 male bearers (18.4%). 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 Melek?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melek is White at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Melek most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Melek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.1% (401 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 Melek in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melek a female name?
Yes, 89.0% of people registered as Melek 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 Melek still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melek 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 Melek 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 the name Melek?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.