Meaning and history
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Máel Coluim, meaning “disciple of Saint Columba.” It was borne by four kings of Scotland beginning in the 10th century, including Malcolm III, who became king after killing Macbeth, the usurper who had defeated his father Duncan. Shakespeare’s Malcolm in Macbeth (1606) is loosely based on him, and another notable bearer was Malcolm X (1925–1965), the American civil rights leader.
20062006: 468 births, rank #541
2007: 453 births, rank #568
2008: 482 births, rank #545
2009: 432 births, rank #599
2010: 496 births, rank #521
20112011: 525 births, rank #497
2012: 585 births, rank #467
2013: 650 births, rank #442
2014: 682 births, rank #442
2015: 741 births, rank #421
20162016: 784 births, rank #408
2017: 814 births, rank #392
2018: 806 births, rank #393
2019: 1,022 births, rank #327
2020: 1,170 births, rank #290
20212021: 1,230 births, rank #281
2022: 1,220 births, rank #283
2023: 1,131 births, rank #293
2024: 1,093 births, rank #314
20252025: 1,257 births, rank #272
Malcolm rose from #314 to #272 for boys between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1992, with 1,495 births.