Malachi

What Malachi means

Means “my messenger”

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 pro

Source: Wiktionary, “Malachi” (revision 93372897), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Malachi?

US: Rising: up from #158 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #265 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 2,692 boys got the name (#134 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 635 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,732 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,455 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (3.08 per 1,000 boys), MS (3.05 per 1,000 boys), AL (3.02 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Malachi is #134 in the US and #292 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.7% of US babies named Malachi were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the US pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Malachai55 US · 7 E&W
• Malachy9 US · 20 E&W
• Malichi5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Malachi

Boys

• Johan#572Variant of Joan, meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Elijah#7“Yahweh is my god”^*
• Luke#33Editor’s note Down from #28 in 2015 to #33 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 250 US boys in the 2025 records
• Zion#142Editor’s note Up from #227 in 2015 to #142 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 680 US boys in the 2025 records
• Simon#230“sixpence coin”^*
• Nehemiah#429“consolation of Yahweh”^*

For a sister

• Sarai#424“master, chief”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Isabella#7Form of Isabel, meaning “my God is an oath”^*
• Ava#11Editor’s note Down from #4 in 2015 to #11 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 210 US girls in the 2025 records
• Lydia#92“the region of Lydia”^*
• Azaria#638Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1988, with 6 babies

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Malachi’s. Rank is US 2025.