Malcom
Masculine · “devotee of Saint Columba”
Malcom drops a letter from Malcolm, and the Gaelic behind it is devotee of Columba — the saint who founded Iona and converted much of Scotland.
How old is the name Malcom?
Malcom was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Malcom alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 4,400 people named Malcom are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Malcom most popular?
Malcom peaked in 1992, reaching #765 nationally. Today it ranks #1771, 1,006 places below that high. See the whole 1992 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From columba to Malcom
The story of Malcom
Four kings of Scotland were called Malcolm, and Malcolm III's reign from 1058 followed the killing of Macbeth. Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, gave the name enormous twentieth-century weight in America. The single-l Malcom appears in the American registers steadily and is in current use.
Meaning
devotee of Saint Columba
From the Gaelic Máel Coluim — máel, 'devotee' or 'tonsured servant', and Coluim, the genitive of Columba, itself the Latin for 'dove'. The máel element is common in early Irish and Scottish names. The reading is documented and undisputed.
How the name formed
- columba
- Máel Coluim
- Malcolm
- Malcom
Related forms: Malcolm · Maol Chaluim · Calum
Pronouncing Malcom
MAL-kum
Two syllables, stress on the first. Malcom and Malcolm are said identically.
Nicknames for Malcom
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1991139 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #765reached in 1992
- Change vs 2022
- +9.6%91 in 2025, from 83
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.
Malcom in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Malcolm in English — spelling variant
- Maol Chaluim in Gaelic — related form
- Calum in Scottish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Malcoms among us
people named Malcom are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,770 born in 2025 was named Malcom
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 Wayland test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Malcom's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Wayland climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Wayland's path sketches the road Malcom is walking now.
Malcom 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
Where Malcom is headed
Malcom should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Malcom beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Malcom in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The devotee-of-Columba meaning is concrete and documents a real religious practice.
- Four Scottish kings and a major American figure carry it.
- Mal and Cal are two short forms, both with real use.
- Malcolm is the standard spelling and will be assumed.
- The Mal- front means 'bad' in the Romance languages, which is a coincidence.
- It will be corrected to Malcolm by other people.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Malcom
Masculine · #1771 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Malcoms are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,400 people named Malcom are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Malcom in 2025?
- Malcom ranks #1771 among US boy names in 2025, with 91 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Malcom?
- About 1 in every 18,770 US boys born in 2025 was named Malcom — 91 in all.
- Will my child share the name Malcom with classmates?
- Malcom will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Malcom
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kyzen#1771 · Khaled#1771 · Aram#1771 · Channing#1771 · Suleiman#1771 · Riggins#1771 · Xyleek#1778 · Edrick#1778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Malcom? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Malcom and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
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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