Malala
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- ma-LAH-la
- UK rank, 2025
- #5,990 for girls
Malala is a girls' name, meaning “grief-stricken”. In 2025 it ranked 5,990th for girls in the UK (3 babies).
What does Malala mean?
Pashto, after Malalai of Maiwand
“grief-stricken”
Pashtun name honouring Malalai of Maiwand, heroine of an 1880 battle; Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai was named after her.
Is Malala a girl's or a boy's name?
Malala is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 girls in the UK. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Malala in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 5,990th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 3 about 1 in 93,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 3 girls in the UK were named Malala, making it the 5,990th most popular name for girls. Its busiest year was 2013, with 8 girls.
Among girls in 2025, it was 5,925th in England and Wales.
Malala in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | #5,990 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 3 | #5,929 |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 4 | #4,980 |
| 2015 | 3 | #5,983 |
| 2014 | 3 | #5,920 |
| 2013 | 8 | #3,060 |
| 2012 | 5 | #4,390 |
Names like Malala
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Khadija, Amira, Safa, Abeeha, Hafsa, Layla, Madiha, Ayla, Muntaha, Ayra, Maliha, Hiba
Names related to Malala
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland) and Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Malala: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/malala, updated 20 October 2026.