Maliyah
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Meaning
modern elaboration of Malia, Hawaiian form of Mary
The story
Maliyah is a spelling of Malia, Hawaii's form of Mary, with the ending written out long, and the reference books file it as a variant of Malia. Malia itself runs at about 31,600 girls in our records with its own story. Maliyah's record is young: about 316 in the 1990s, 3,700 in the 2000s, 7,900 in the 2010s, and 3,400 so far this decade, girls without one recorded boy, about 15,400 of them all told in the published record so far. The longer spelling adds a syllable's worth of ink and keeps the sound the reference books give it: an island classic simply written a second way, and the record carrying both spellings comfortably side by side, decade after decade.
How popular is Maliyah around the world?
In the United States, 3,400 babies were named Maliyah between 2020 and 2025.
Maliyah is on the official records of the United States, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 6,400
In the United States, 3,400 babies were named Maliyah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Maliyah peaked in the 2010s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 19,000
In Canada, 19 girls named Maliyah were born in 2024, ranked 1,286th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 29,000
In England and Wales, 20 girls named Maliyah were born in 2025, ranked 1,512th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
last on record 2024
Maliyah is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Ireland
last on record 2023
Maliyah is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
last on record 2023
Maliyah is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
last on record 2014
Maliyah is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Maliyah
Most people given the name Maliyah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Maliyah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Maliyah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Maliyah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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