Malachi
Malachi was given to 2,692 boys in 2025, #134 among boys’ names; 66,048 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 64,400 Americans named Malachi and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 14 years old and half are between 7 and 20.
Malachi came back: it left the boys’ top 1,000 after 1910 and returned in 1987.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Malachi by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Malachi mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Malachi is “a male given name from Hebrew.” Its etymology gives the senses “my messenger” (literally) and “angel; messenger; ambassadors” (מַלְאָךְ).
From Latin Mālāchiās, from Ancient Greek Μαλαχίας (Malakhías), from Hebrew מַלְאָכִי (mal’achi, malʼāḵî, literally “my messenger”), singular form of מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “angel; messenger; ambassadors”) with first-person singular personal pronoun as possessor.
/ˈmæləkaɪ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Malachi?
#134 among boys’ names, 2025
Malachi rose from #160 in 2015 to #134 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 1.4 to 1.6 per 1,000.
2,790 babies in 2006, the peak
Malachi peaked in 2006, when 2,790 babies were given it (2,776 boys, #150 among boys’ names). The 2,701 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 97% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,692 | #134 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | 2,424 | #149 | 1.4 |
| 2023 | 2,482 | #146 | 1.5 |
| 2022 | 2,307 | #161 | 1.3 |
| 2021 | 2,324 | #167 | 1.3 |
| 2020 | 2,402 | #156 | 1.4 |
| 2019 | 2,454 | #160 | 1.4 |
| 2018 | 2,514 | #154 | 1.4 |
| 2017 | 2,549 | #153 | 1.4 |
| 2016 | 2,634 | #154 | 1.4 |
Every recorded year (137)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,602 | #160 | 1.4 |
| 2014 | 2,400 | #178 | 1.2 |
| 2013 | 2,337 | #174 | 1.2 |
| 2012 | 2,329 | #167 | 1.2 |
| 2011 | 2,353 | #163 | 1.2 |
| 2010 | 2,416 | #161 | 1.3 |
| 2009 | 2,352 | #166 | 1.2 |
| 2008 | 2,459 | #160 | 1.2 |
| 2007 | 2,710 | #155 | 1.3 |
| 2006 | 2,776 | #150 | 1.4 |
| 2005 | 2,553 | #162 | 1.3 |
| 2004 | 2,246 | #179 | 1.1 |
| 2003 | 1,919 | #194 | 1.0 |
| 2002 | 1,673 | #210 | 0.86 |
| 2001 | 1,325 | #253 | 0.68 |
| 2000 | 767 | #351 | 0.39 |
| 1999 | 706 | #369 | 0.37 |
| 1998 | 577 | #413 | 0.30 |
| 1997 | 505 | #443 | 0.27 |
| 1996 | 414 | #504 | 0.22 |
| 1995 | 359 | #531 | 0.19 |
| 1994 | 271 | #630 | 0.14 |
| 1993 | 247 | #654 | 0.13 |
| 1992 | 178 | #785 | 0.09 |
| 1991 | 149 | #853 | 0.07 |
| 1990 | 119 | #951 | 0.06 |
| 1989 | 114 | #955 | 0.06 |
| 1988 | 90 | #1,043 | 0.05 |
| 1987 | 92 | #994 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 83 | #1,019 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 75 | #1,073 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 67 | #1,103 | 0.04 |
| 1983 | 68 | #1,087 | 0.04 |
| 1982 | 51 | #1,314 | 0.03 |
| 1981 | 44 | #1,444 | 0.02 |
| 1980 | 62 | #1,161 | 0.03 |
| 1979 | 62 | #1,148 | 0.04 |
| 1978 | 41 | #1,463 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 49 | #1,281 | 0.03 |
| 1976 | 44 | #1,341 | 0.03 |
| 1975 | 53 | #1,163 | 0.03 |
| 1974 | 35 | #1,489 | 0.02 |
| 1973 | 31 | #1,572 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 20 | #2,053 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 31 | #1,582 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 24 | #1,829 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 17 | #2,098 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 11 | #2,676 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 5 | #4,331 | under 0.01 |
| 1966 | 5 | #4,314 | under 0.01 |
| 1965 | 8 | #3,146 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 13 | #2,374 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 5 | #4,412 | under 0.01 |
| 1962 | 16 | #2,089 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 17 | #2,043 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 11 | #2,630 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 11 | #2,613 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 16 | #2,071 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 15 | #2,154 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 20 | #1,797 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 13 | #2,275 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 14 | #2,172 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 11 | #2,476 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 17 | #1,909 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 18 | #1,810 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 20 | #1,685 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 19 | #1,737 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 23 | #1,542 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 14 | #2,131 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 25 | #1,426 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 12 | #2,084 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 11 | #2,266 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 17 | #1,803 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 22 | #1,517 | 0.02 |
| 1941 | 16 | #1,798 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 24 | #1,388 | 0.02 |
| 1939 | 22 | #1,444 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 19 | #1,593 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 15 | #1,887 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 12 | #2,138 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 21 | #1,523 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 18 | #1,708 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 22 | #1,485 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 13 | #2,158 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,281 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 18 | #1,791 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 10 | #2,698 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 13 | #2,342 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 17 | #2,001 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 22 | #1,641 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 22 | #1,658 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 20 | #1,818 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 16 | #2,085 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 26 | #1,488 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 18 | #1,953 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 21 | #1,730 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 23 | #1,563 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,230 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 18 | #1,785 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 13 | #2,214 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 19 | #1,639 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,829 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 21 | #1,135 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 17 | #1,161 | 0.04 |
| 1911 | 6 | #1,663 | 0.03 |
| 1910 | 12 | #969 | 0.06 |
| 1909 | 7 | #1,226 | 0.04 |
| 1908 | 10 | #928 | 0.06 |
| 1907 | 5 | #1,468 | 0.03 |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,352 | 0.04 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,155 | 0.05 |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,232 | 0.04 |
| 1902 | 8 | #898 | 0.07 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,425 | 0.03 |
| 1897 | 6 | #1,018 | 0.05 |
| 1894 | 6 | #1,035 | 0.05 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,184 | 0.04 |
| 1891 | 5 | #1,064 | 0.05 |
| 1890 | 8 | #791 | 0.07 |
| 1889 | 6 | #943 | 0.05 |
| 1888 | 7 | #881 | 0.06 |
| 1887 | 7 | #801 | 0.07 |
| 1886 | 8 | #734 | 0.07 |
| 1885 | 7 | #813 | 0.06 |
| 1882 | 8 | #733 | 0.07 |
| 1881 | 5 | #959 | 0.05 |
| 1880 | 10 | #624 | 0.09 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Malachi a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Malachi has been given almost only to boys: 290 girls in 137 years of records.
Girls and boys named Malachi: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Malachi, and how old are they?
64,400 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 66,048 Americans ever recorded as Malachi. The median Malachi alive today is 14 years old; half are between 7 and 20.
The 2020 Census counted 41,144 people named Malachi (261 women and girls, 40,883 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 50,723 born in the U.S. The Census count is 19% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 59 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 191 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 449 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,340 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 29,400 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 32,000 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Malachi born?
The states with the most babies named Malachi are Texas, California and Florida, with 28% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 303 | #130 | 0.8× |
| California | 229 | #172 | 0.6× |
| Florida | 210 | #107 | 1.2× |
| Georgia | 148 | #71 | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 130 | #95 | 1.4× |
| Ohio | 109 | #123 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 100 | #94 | 1.0× |
| Tennessee | 88 | #102 | 1.4× |
| Illinois | 86 | #137 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 86 | #152 | 0.8× |
Where Malachi is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Malachi is most over-represented in South Carolina: since 1910 it was given 1.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Malachi with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 68,803 babies since 1880, Malachi is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,701 of their 2,770 babies (98%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Malachi
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Malachi and names like it
- Compare Malachi and MalachaiBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sMalachi peaked in 2006.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Malachi since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Malachi: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2006The year the most babies were named Malachi.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Malachi alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with MMost given first.