girl's name
Malia
mah-LEE-ah
- Origin Hawaiian
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 38,466
the United States
#350
2025 births
Malia is a girl's name of Hawaiian origin, the Hawaiian form of Mary. Missionaries adapted the name to a language with no R and no consonant clusters, and Maria became Malia by the ordinary rules of that adaptation.
- Malia is a name of Hawaiian origin.
- Peaked in 2009, when 1,700 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,802 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1919.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Malia over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 |
| 1940s | 5 |
| 1950s | 323 |
| 1960s | 449 |
| 1970s | 1,027 |
| 1980s | 1,442 |
| 1990s | 2,477 |
| 2000s | 8,205 |
| 2010s | 11,140 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,533 |
What Malia means
Malia means the same as Mary, whose own meaning is unresolved — bitter, beloved and a possible Egyptian root are all proposed. What Malia adds is the shape Hawaiian gives it.
Where Malia comes from
Malia is Hawaiian for Maria. Hawaiian has no R and does not allow consonants to cluster, so biblical names entering the language through nineteenth-century missionary translation were reshaped systematically: Maria became Malia, John became Keoni, Joseph became Iokepa. The underlying Hebrew Miryam has no settled meaning — bitter, beloved, and a derivation from an Egyptian root meaning beloved have all been proposed, and none is established. Malia is also used in Samoan and as a modern respelling of Maliyah. It appears in our records from 1919, with a marked rise after 2008.
Malia in use
Malia charts in six of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2009.
How popular is Malia?
In 2025, Malia was given to 872 babies in the United States, ranking #350 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Malia is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Malia is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Malïa | Malïa is Malia written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #908. | 220 |
Names that peaked alongside Malia
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Malia also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Malia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Malia
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Malia in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Malia
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Malia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Malia
What does the name Malia mean?
It is the Hawaiian form of Mary, whose own meaning is unresolved — bitter, beloved and an Egyptian root are all proposed.
Why is Maria spelled Malia in Hawaiian?
Hawaiian has no R and no consonant clusters, so names entering through missionary translation were reshaped — John became Keoni, Joseph Iokepa.
How do you pronounce Malia?
mah-LEE-ah, with the stress on the middle syllable.
How popular is the name Malia?
In 2025, Malia was given to 872 babies in the United States, ranking #350 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Malia a girl's or a boy's name?
Malia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Malia?
Malia has 3 syllables.
When was Malia most popular?
Malia peaked in 2009, when 1,700 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Malia?
Malia is usually shortened to Mali, Lia and Mal.
Is Malia a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Malia currently ranks #237 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.