Maliq
Masculine · “Arabic malik”
Malcolm X took the name Malik after the hajj in 1964, along with the title El-Hajj and a family name he chose himself. The change was public and specific, and it put Malik into American use.
How old is the name Maliq?
Maliq first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Maliq alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 800 people named Maliq are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maliq most popular?
Maliq peaked in 2002, reaching #1792 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 8,903 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From malik to Maliq
The story of Maliq
He was born Malcolm Little, took the surname X in the Nation of Islam to mark a lost ancestral name, and after making the pilgrimage to Mecca in April 1964 announced himself as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz: the title earned by the pilgrimage, an Arabic given name, and a name he associated with an ancestral tribe. The change accompanied a public shift in his thinking after seeing pilgrims of every color praying together, and he wrote about it in letters sent home from Mecca. Malik entered American naming in numbers in the years after, and it is one of the clearest cases in the data of a single person's decision moving a name. The q spelling is an American touch: Arabic has a separate q sound, but not in this word.
Meaning
Arabic malik, king
From Arabic malik, a king or sovereign, from a root meaning to possess or rule. Al-Malik is one of the ninety-nine names of God. Maliq is an American respelling using q for the ordinary k sound, which Arabic writes with kaf here. The peak is 2002.
How the name formed
- malik
- Malik
- Maliq
Related forms: Malik · Malik · Melik
Pronouncing Maliq
muh-LEEK
Two syllables, stress on the second. The q here spells an ordinary k; Arabic's separate q sound does not occur in this word.
Nicknames for Maliq
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
- 1994
- Most boys named
- 200264 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1792reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- −50.0%6 in 2025, from 12
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.
Maliq in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Malik in Arabic — spelling variant
- Malik in Urdu — same name
- Melik in Turkish — same name
Maliqs among us
people named Maliq are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Maliq
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Maliq
- #10695
- Maliq on the 2025 chart
- #390
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Maliq went to 6 boys in 2025, but Malik, Malick and Maalik 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 — 10,305 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 2,215 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 284,679 for Maliq 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 Stony test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maliq's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Stony climbed just as high around 1963, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Stony's path sketches the road Maliq is walking now.
Maliq 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
Maliq beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maliq in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Arabic meaning is documented and transparent.
- Two syllables with a firm ending.
- It is recognized across the Muslim world.
- Malik is the standard spelling.
- The q is decorative and misrepresents the Arabic.
- The 2002 peak dates this form.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Maliq 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 Maliq? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Maliq
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maliqs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Maliq are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Maliq?
- Maliq is one of 5 recorded spellings. Malik is the more common one — 724 births in 2025 against 6 for Maliq.
- How popular is the name Maliq in 2025?
- Maliq ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maliq?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Maliq — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maliq with classmates?
- Maliq will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maliq
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maliq? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maliq 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