Malika
Feminine · “queen”
Malika is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 4,967 girls against 36 boys since 1880.
Malika is a queen in Arabic — the feminine of malik, a king — and the root also gives the word for possession.
How old is the name Malika?
Malika first appears in US birth records in 1966 — 59 years ago. The typical Malika alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 4,900 people named Malika are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Malika most popular?
Malika peaked in 1996, reaching #1020 nationally. Today it ranks #2691, 1,671 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From malik to Malika
The story of Malika
The root m-l-k gives kings and possession alike across Arabic and Hebrew — to rule is to hold. Al-Malik is among the ninety-nine divine names. A separate Sanskrit malika names a jasmine garland. Both routes reach American records, where Malika is in current use.
Meaning
queen
From the Arabic malika, feminine of malik, 'king', from the root m-l-k, 'to possess' or 'to rule'. The same root gives mulk, 'dominion', and the Hebrew melekh, 'king'. A separate Sanskrit malika, 'jasmine garland', exists. The Arabic is documented.
How the name formed
- malik
- malika
- Malika
Related forms: ملكة · Malika · मालिका
Pronouncing Malika
mah-LEE-kah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Arabic stresses the first, MA-li-ka.
Nicknames for Malika
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
- 1966
- Most girls named
- 1993154 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1020reached in 1996
- Change vs 2024
- +8.5%64 in 2025, from 59
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.
Malika in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- ملكة in Arabic — transliteration
- Malika in Swahili — same name
- मालिका in Hindi — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Pennsylvania.
Malikas among us
people named Malika are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 25,114 born in 2025 was named Malika
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 Anisa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Malika's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anisa climbed just as high around 1967, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anisa's path sketches the road Malika is walking now.
Malika 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 Malika is headed
Malika 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.
Malika beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Malika in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That ruling and possessing are one root across Arabic and Hebrew is a first-rate fact.
- The queen meaning is transparent and strong.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- Arabic and English stress it differently.
- The Sanskrit word of the same spelling is unrelated.
- It carries a royal title, which is a kind of claim.
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What they receive
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Malika
Feminine · #2691 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Malikas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,900 people named Malika are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Malika in 2025?
- Malika ranks #2691 among US girl names in 2025, with 64 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Malika?
- About 1 in every 25,114 US girls born in 2025 was named Malika — 64 in all.
- Will my child share the name Malika with classmates?
- Malika will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Malika
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maricela#2691 · Zulema#2691 · Layana#2691 · Meher#2691 · Cyra#2691 · Aeris#2691 · Adelyne#2691 · Annmarie#2691
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Malika? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Malika 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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