Mala
Feminine · “Sanskrit mala”
A mala is a string of prayer beads, a hundred and eight of them, told through the fingers while repeating a name or a syllable. Islam counts ninety-nine on a tasbih. The Catholic rosary counts fifty-nine. Three religions arrived at the same object for the same reason.
How old is the name Mala?
Mala first appears in US birth records in 1951 — 74 years ago. The typical Mala alive today was born around 1975, making them about 50 years old. About 600 people named Mala are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mala most popular?
Mala peaked in 1956, reaching #1480 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 7,977 places below that high. See the whole 1956 chart.
Where it comes from
From mala to Mala
The story of Mala
A japamala is a loop of one hundred and eight beads with a larger head bead, used to count repetitions of a mantra or a divine name, and it is standard in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh practice. The Muslim tasbih or misbaha counts ninety-nine, one for each of the names of God, or thirty-three repeated three times. The Christian rosary as now used has fifty-nine, arranged in decades. Whether these are historically connected is disputed and probably unresolvable; the counting of repeated prayers on beads or knots is attested independently in several places, and the desert fathers used pebbles and knotted cords before any Western rosary existed. What is certain is the shared logic: the hands keep the count so the mind does not have to, and the physical object makes a long repetition possible.
Meaningscholars disagree
Sanskrit mala, a garland or string of beads
Mala is most likely from Sanskrit mala, a garland, wreath or string, the word behind japamala, a rosary of prayer beads. Other sources produce the same spelling: Polish mala means small, and Mala serves as a short form of Malka, Amala and several other names. The American peak is 1956.
How the name formed
- mala
- Mala
Related forms: Mala · Mala · Malka
Pronouncing Mala
MAH-lah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Hindi and Sanskrit say both a vowels open. English speakers sometimes say MAY-lah.
Nicknames for Mala
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1951
- Most girls named
- 195651 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1480reached in 1956
- Change vs 2023
- −37.5%10 in 2025, from 16
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Mala in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mala in Sanskrit — same name
- Mala in Hindi — same name
- Malka in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Malas among us
people named Mala are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Mala
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Laveda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mala's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Laveda climbed just as high around 1936, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Laveda's path sketches the road Mala is walking now.
Mala sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Mala beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mala in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, easy in several languages.
- The Sanskrit meaning is concrete and documented.
- The vowels are open and clear.
- Several unrelated languages produce the same spelling.
- It is close to Mara, Maya and Malia in sound.
- The first vowel has two English pronunciations.
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What they receive
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Mala
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Malas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Mala are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mala in 2025?
- Mala ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mala?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Mala — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mala with classmates?
- Mala will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mala
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mala? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mala and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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