How many Malenas are there in the world?

No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,000 people named Malena are estimated to be alive in the US today.

How do you spell Malena?

Malena is the most-used spelling in US records — 81 of the 95 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Maleena.

How popular is the name Malena in 2025?

Malena ranks #2256 among US girl names in 2025, with 81 babies given the name.

How rare is the name Malena?

About 1 in every 19,843 US girls born in 2025 was named Malena — 81 in all.

Will my child share the name Malena with classmates?

Malena will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Malena

Feminine

#2256 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year

rare81 girls in 2025

Malena contracts María Elena in Spanish, and it is separately a Swedish blend of Maria and Magdalena.

How old is the name Malena?

Malena first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Malena alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 4,000 people named Malena are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Malena most popular?

Malena peaked in 1886, reaching #993 nationally. Today it ranks #2256, 1,263 places below that high. See the whole 1886 chart.

Compare this name More “M” names

Lists built from the same records:

Where it comes from

From María Elena to Malena

The story of Malena

Spanish naming compounds María with a second name constantly — María Elena, María José, María Luisa — and contracts them in speech, giving Malena, Marijose, Marisa. Swedish arrived at Malena by a different route. Both reach American records, where the name is in current use.

Meaningscholars disagree

Not established

A contraction of María Elena in Spanish, or of Maria and Magdalena in Swedish. Maria's own origin is unrecovered; Elena descends from Helen, also unrecovered; Magdalena means 'of Magdala', a tower. Only the Magdalena element has a settled meaning.

How the name formed

María Elena
Malena

Related forms: Malena · Malena · Melena

Pronouncing Malena

mah-LEH-nah

Three syllables, stress in the middle. Swedish says mah-LAY-nah.

Nicknames for Malena

Moderate

MaleThe front of the name, used inside Spanish-speaking families

LenaThe back of the name, and a name in its own right with a large record

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: 1886
Most girls named: 2004146 — the highest on record
Peak rank: #993reached in 1886
Change vs 2023: +15.7%81 in 2025, from 70

Malena sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2004, with 146 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Malena in other languages

The same name elsewhere

Malena in Spanish — same name
Malena in Swedish — same name
Melena in English — spelling variant

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Pennsylvania, Texas.

Malenas among us

4,000

people named Malena are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 19,843 born in 2025 was named Malena

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Malena

#2256
Malena on the 2025 chart: #865
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Malena went to 81 girls in 2025, but Maleena is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 95, which makes it the 865th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,391 places above the chart.

Malena81
Maleena14

About 1 girl in 16,919 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 19,843 for Malena itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

What happens to a name after it peaks

Fashion outlook

Malena 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.

40%chance Malena will feel “very 2000s” by 2040

Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Malena is headed

Malena should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady-1% by 2030projected around #2,387 in 2030

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.

Malena beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Malena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Malenathis name81#2256Jensen81#2256Miabella81#2256Toni81#2256Alita81#2256

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths

That Spanish contracts compound Marías this way is a first-rate naming fact.
Lena is available as a short form with a large record.
Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.

What to consider

The names behind it have largely unrecovered meanings.
The Spanish and Swedish routes are unrelated.
Malena and Melena are close and the latter is a medical term.

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Malena

Feminine · #2256 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Malenas are there in the world?: No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,000 people named Malena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Malena?: Malena is the most-used spelling in US records — 81 of the 95 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Maleena.
How popular is the name Malena in 2025?: Malena ranks #2256 among US girl names in 2025, with 81 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Malena?: About 1 in every 19,843 US girls born in 2025 was named Malena — 81 in all.
Will my child share the name Malena with classmates?: Malena will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Malena

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Jensen^#2256 · Miabella^#2256 · Toni^#2256 · Alita^#2256 · Lillyana^#2256 · Daylin^#2256 · Linden^#2256 · Leonor^#2256

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Malena? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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