How rare is the name Malcom?

3,831 people in the United States have the first name Malcom, about 1 in 78,839. It ranks #4,744 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 2 others.

first name

MALCOM

#4,744

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
3,831
About
1 in 78,839
This common or more
84.5%
Who bears it

Of the 3,831 people named Malcom, 48.9% reported their origin as Black, 35% as White and 7.3% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Malcom peaked in 1992, when 186 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1992
Births that year
186
In 2025*
91 ▼51%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 5,864 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Malcom by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #2,111. The largest share of babies named Malcom, 22.9%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1880s#2,11127
1890s#2,74125
1900s#3,02035
1910s#2,370242
1920s#2,135430
1930s#2,318332
1940s#2,723298
1950s#2,334529
1960s#2,768449
1970s#3,694348
1980s#3,466492
1990s#2,4911,130
2000s#5,021554
2010s#5,984459
2020s#3,934514
Before 19010.9%
Greatest Generation 1901–2710.5%
Silent Generation 1928–4510.4%
Baby boom 1946–6415.1%
Generation X 1965–809.8%
Millennials 1981–9622.9%
Generation Z 1997–1216.2%
2013 and later14.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Malcom is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Malcom has been most common in Georgia (3.5×), Alabama (3.3×), and Texas (2.9×), and least common in Indiana (0.71×).

1,815 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Malcom

2 other first names also have 3,831 people.

#4,744 Dejuan · 3,831#4,744 Jeramy · 3,831

Either side of Malcom

#4,744 Dejuan · 3,831#4,744 Jeramy · 3,831#4,747 Bernardino · 3,830#4,747 Karsen · 3,830

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Malcom, most common first.

#37,148 Malcome · 211#39,388 Malcomb · 192

Also a last name

As a last name, Malcom ranks #8,895 of 156,621, with 3,533 people. See Malcom as a last name

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