Malu
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Meaning
contraction of Maria Luísa (or Maria Lúcia); a long-beloved Brazilian nickname now given as a name in its own right
The story
Malu is what happens when Maria Luísa gets compressed by daily affection, and Brazil eventually decided the compression was the point. For decades it lived as a nickname, answering for Maria Luísa, Maria Luíza and Maria Lúcia; the actress Malu Mader, a Maria de Lourdes on her birth certificate, shows how far it ranged. Television put it in the title early: Malu Mulher, the Globo series that ran from 1979 to 1980 with Regina Duarte as its newly divorced protagonist. Then the new century moved it from nickname to given name outright. The 2022 census counts 12,599 residents named simply Malu, median age five: 5,117 born in the 2010s, and 5,123 in the census's slice of the 2020s alone, already past the full 2010s total in under three years. The Marias are still there in spirit; the birth certificates just stopped spelling them out.
How popular is Malu around the world?
In the United States, Malu is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025. At the 2022 census, 12,599 people in Brazil were named Malu, ranked 1,453rd, with a median age of 5.
Malu is on the official records of the United States, Brazil, Mexico City, Argentina, Chile and Spain.
United States
on record
In the United States, Malu is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Malu has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 16,000
At the 2022 census, 12,599 people in Brazil were named Malu, ranked 1,453rd, with a median age of 5.
Among people named Malu living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 5,123 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Mexico City City
1 in 17,000
In Mexico City, there were 7 registrations of Malu in 2022.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Argentina
1 in 37,000
In Argentina, 18 newborns were given the name Malu in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Chile
1 in 45,000
In Chile, 4 girls were registered as Malu in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Spain
1 in 550,000
In Spain, 82 residents are named Malu, ranked 9,128th among women, with a mean age of 14.6 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
England and Wales
last on record 2016
Malu is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Ireland
last on record 2021
Malu 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
Montevideo City
last on record 2006
Malu is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
South Australia
last on record 1982
Malu is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 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 Puerto Rico, Canada, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Malu deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Malu 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 Malu fits with your family’s names and surname.
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