Malina
Feminine · “raspberry”
Malina is a raspberry in Slavic languages — and it is also a Greenlandic sun goddess and a Hebrew name meaning a tower.
How old is the name Malina?
Malina first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Malina alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 4,400 people named Malina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Malina most popular?
Malina peaked in 2009, reaching #1398 nationally. Today it ranks #2153, 755 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From malina to Malina
The story of Malina
Malina is the ordinary word for a raspberry across the Slavic languages and a common name in Poland and Serbia. Inuit tradition tells of Malina the sun and her brother Anningan the moon, who chase each other across the sky. Both routes reach American records, where the name is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
raspberry; sun
Several genuine sources. The Slavic malina, 'raspberry', ordinary vocabulary across Polish, Russian and Serbian. The Greenlandic Malina, a sun goddess. And a Hebrew migdal-derived reading. Each is real and none is dominant for the American name.
How the name formed
- malina
- Malina
Related forms: Malina · Малина · Malina
Pronouncing Malina
mah-LEE-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Polish says it the same way.
Nicknames for Malina
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
- 1920
- Most girls named
- 2009169 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1398reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%86 in 2025, from 86
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.
Malina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Malina in Polish — same name
- Малина in Serbian — transliteration
- Malina in Greenlandic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Malinas among us
people named Malina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 18,689 born in 2025 was named Malina
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 Sherre test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Malina's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sherre climbed just as high around 1956, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sherre's path sketches the road Malina is walking now.
Malina 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 Malina is headed
Malina 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.
Malina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Malina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The raspberry meaning is concrete and unusually charming.
- Mali and Lina are two short forms, both with real use.
- The Inuit sun goddess is a striking second route.
- The several origins are entirely unrelated.
- Melina and Malina are close enough to confuse.
- In Slavic countries it is an ordinary fruit word.
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What they receive
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Malina
Feminine · #2153 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Malinas 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 Malina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Malina in 2025?
- Malina ranks #2153 among US girl names in 2025, with 86 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Malina?
- About 1 in every 18,689 US girls born in 2025 was named Malina — 86 in all.
- Will my child share the name Malina with classmates?
- Malina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Malina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Mayra#2153 · Keaton#2153 · Ahana#2153 · Ailen#2153 · Jackie#2153 · Zofia#2153 · Harlynn#2153 · Aries#2153
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Malina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Malina and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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