Mallory

What Mallory means

Means “unhappy, unlucky”

From an Anglo-Norman nickname for an unfortunate person, from Old French maleure, malheure (“unhappy, unlucky”) (whence French malheur), from mal (“bad”) +‎ eur (“fortune”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Mallory” (revision 92180445), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Mallory?

US: Steady: #392 in 2015, #372 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #2945 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1986, when 3,325 girls got the name (#83 that year). First in the US records in 1938.

How common

• About 1 in 1,948 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 7,915 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,556 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 WY (7.4 per 1,000 girls), SD (1.64 per 1,000 girls), KY (1.51 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Mallory is #372 in the US and #1051 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Mallory were girls.

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

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Malory13 US
• Mallori11 US
• Malori7 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 Mallory

Girls

• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Brooke#313Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1996, with 6,724 babies; 972 in 2025
• Kimberly#302Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #108 in 2015, #302 in 2025
• Kelly#851Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 18,234 babies; 319 in 2025
• Leslie#712“garden of hollies”^*
• Shelby#649Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1991, with 10,220 babies; 444 in 2025

For a brother

• Tyler#219“tiler”^*
• Devin#548“fortuneteller”^*
• Brandon#261“broom shrub + hill, dune”^*
• Lance#862Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 4,160 babies; 279 in 2025
• Ryan#99Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 29,905 babies; 3,532 in 2025
• Dillon#929Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1992, with 5,062 babies; 253 in 2025

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