Malu
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- MAH-loo
- Origin
- Hawaiian
- US rank, 2025
- #8,858 for girls
Malu is a girls' name of Hawaiian origin, meaning “shade, protection, peace”. In 2025 it ranked 8,858th for girls in the US (11 babies).
What does Malu mean?
Hawaiian: Hawaiian word; also a Brazilian pet form of Maria Luisa
“shade, protection, peace”
Hawaiian word for shade and protection; in Brazil Malu is also a pet form of Maria Luisa.
Is Malu a girl's or a boy's name?
Malu is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 11 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Malu in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 8,858th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 11 about 1 in 150,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Steady down 15% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 11 girls in the US were named Malu, making it the 8,858th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 5,310th. Its busiest year was 2024, with 25 girls. It first appears in the records in 1995.
2025 had fewer girls named Malu than any year since 2015.
Half of all the girls named Malu in the US since 1880 were born between 2014 and 2022, the years shaded on the chart below.
Malu in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 11 | #8,858 |
| 2024 | 25 | #5,145 |
| 2023 | 16 | #6,917 |
| 2022 | 23 | #5,462 |
| 2021 | 22 | #5,569 |
| 2020 | 23 | #5,310 |
| 2019 | 23 | #5,445 |
| 2018 | 15 | #7,405 |
| 2017 | 14 | #7,836 |
| 2016 | 14 | #7,985 |
| 2015 | 6 | #14,477 |
| 2014 | 6 | #14,552 |
| 2013 | 11 | #9,607 |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 8 | #12,146 |
| 2010 | 6 | #14,953 |
| 2009 | 6 | #15,236 |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 6 | #15,485 |
| 2006 | 8 | #12,415 |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 5 | #15,426 |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 0 | – |
| 1998 | 5 | #14,116 |
| 1997 | 0 | – |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 5 | #13,380 |
Names like Malu
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Meilani, Kailani, Malani, Milani, Kalani, Kehlani, Noa, Nalani, Kaylani, Ailany, Xyla, Zuri
Names related to Malu
More Hawaiian names
Kai, Leilani, Koa, Makai, Keanu, Koah, Kailany, Leilany, Laylani, Kaleo, Lani, Luana, Leylani, Lailani, Makoa, Nakoa
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Malu: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/malu, updated 20 October 2026.