Malick
Masculine · “king”
Malick is the Senegalese French spelling of Malik, the Arabic for a king — and it is one of the most common men's names in Senegal.
How old is the name Malick?
Malick first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Malick alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 600 people named Malick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Malick most popular?
Malick peaked in 1997, reaching #2502 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 2,037 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From malik to Malick
The story of Malick
West Africa was colonized by France, so Arabic names in Senegal, Mali and Guinea are written with French spelling conventions — Malick, Cheikh, Ousmane, Boubacar — rather than the English ones used for the same names elsewhere. El Hadj Malick Sy was a major Senegalese Sufi scholar and the name is very widely given. It reaches American and French records with West African families.
Meaning
king, owner
From Arabic malik, a king or one who possesses; the root gives mulk, dominion, and the same consonants underlie Hebrew melekh. The -ck spelling is French orthography as used in West Africa.
How the name formed
- malik
- Malick
Related forms: Malik · Malick · Melekh
Pronouncing Malick
mah-LEEK
Two syllables with the stress on the second. Americans often say MAL-ik.
Nicknames for Malick
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
- 1991
- Most boys named
- 199732 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2502reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- +22.2%22 in 2025, from 18
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.
Malick in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Malik in Arabic — spelling variant
- Malick in Wolof — same name
- Melekh in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Malicks among us
people named Malick are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Malick
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Malick
- #4539
- Malick on the 2025 chart
- #390
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Malick went to 22 boys in 2025, but Malik, Maalik and Malyk and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 771, which makes it the 390th most-given boys’ name of the year — 4,149 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 2,215 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 77,640 for Malick 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
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Trine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Malick's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Trine climbed just as high around 1921, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Trine's path sketches the road Malick is walking now.
Malick 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
Malick beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Malick in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning shared across Arabic and Hebrew.
- Mal is a plain short form that works from childhood on.
- Very widely used in West Africa, so it has a large community behind it.
- Malick and Malik are both in use and mark different regions.
- The stress moves to the front in American mouths.
- The -ck is French spelling and will be corrected to -k constantly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Malick to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Malick? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Malick
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Malicks 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 Malick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Malick?
- Malick is one of 5 recorded spellings. Malik is the more common one — 724 births in 2025 against 22 for Malick.
- How popular is the name Malick in 2025?
- Malick ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Malick?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Malick — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Malick with classmates?
- Malick will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Malick
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nels#4539 · Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Napoleon#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Malick? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Malick and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle