Mali

What Mali means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Mali yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1967, with 7 babies Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Mali?

US: Steady: #3705 in 2015, #3903 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #539 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2019, when 64 girls got the name (#2681 that year). First in the US records in 1967.

How common

• About 1 in 43,440 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,919 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,578 baby girls 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 NY (0.06 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Mali is #3903 in the US and #328 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 82.2% of US babies named Mali were girls.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Mila4,796 US · 1,014 E&W
• Myla1,436 US · 490 E&W
• Mayla115 US · 29 E&W
• Maela54 US · 15 E&W
• Mayli50 US · 5 E&W
• Maila42 US · 5 E&W
• Maily38 US · 6 E&W
• Milli33 US · 3 E&W

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 Mali

Girls

• Natalia#144“birthday (of the Lord)”^*
• Sophie#55French form of Sophia, meaning “wisdom”^*
• Lily#18Diminutive of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Olivia#1“olive; olive branch”^*
• Rylee#137Variant of Riley, meaning “rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Serenity#129Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #129 vs #997 in 2025

For a brother

• Xander#259Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Aiden#62Variant of Aidan, meaning “fire”^*
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*
• Owen#31Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #31 vs #170 in 2025
• Cooper#27Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #77 in 2015, #27 in 2025
• Giovanni#123Same root as John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Mali’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.