Malcolm
2025 SSA
About Malcolm
Malcolm is a warm and welcoming Scottish appellation (originally Mael-Colium) that fits into that golden circle of names that are distinctive but not at all odd. A royal name in Scotland, Malcolm is also a hero name for many via radical civil rights activist Malcolm X.
Malcolm was the name of four Scottish kings — including the son of Duncan who succeeded to the throne after Macbeth murdered his father — and has been a standard in that country.
Denzel Washington named one of his sons Malcolm, as did Harrison Ford.
Actor Malcolm McDowell is one current bearer. Other namesakes are writer Lowry; bestselling author and trendspotter Gladwell; Sex Pistols musician McLaren; and actor Jamal Warner. There have also been several Malcolms on TV — e.g., in Malcolm in the Middle, Firefly and in the Outlander series. There were no fewer than three characters named Malcolm in the Harry Potter books.
Pronounced MAL-kuhm.
As of October 2026, Malcolm ranked #272 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #205 in 1928, Nameberry popularity #240.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #442 | 682 | 355 |
| 2015 | #421 | 741 | 386.6 |
| 2016 | #408 | 784 | 413.1 |
| 2017 | #392 | 814 | 439.8 |
| 2018 | #394 | 804 | 442.7 |
| 2019 | #327 | 1,022 | 569.6 |
| 2020 | #291 | 1,170 | 677.8 |
| 2021 | #281 | 1,228 | 701.9 |
| 2022 | #284 | 1,219 | 698.2 |
| 2023 | #293 | 1,131 | 661.2 |
| 2024 | #314 | 1,088 | 631.5 |
| 2025 | #272 | 1,257 | 735.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Malcolm.
- Reuben
- Lawrence
- Conrad
- Calvin
- Duncan
- Lewis
- Abel
- Samson
- Desmond
- Warren
- Gideon
- Jonas
- Winston
- Maxwell
- Hugh
- Edwin
- Clark
- Simon
- Harvey
- Abraham
Malcolm on lists
Famous Malcolms
- Malcolm Scott Carpenter
American astronaut
- Malcolm I
IV, Kings of Scotland
- Malcolm X
American civil rights activist
- Malcolm Stevenson Forbes
American publisher (of Forbes magazine)
- Malcolm Bligh Turnbull
29th Prime Minister of Australia
- (John) Malcolm Fraser
22nd Prime Minister of Australia
- Malcolm Leslie Rifkind
British politician
- Malcolm
Jamal Warner, American actor
- Malcolm Cowley
American novelist and poet
- Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor)
English actor
- Malcolm Bilson
American pianist
- Malcolm Gets
American actor
- Malcolm David Kelley
American rapper, singer, songwriter and actor
- Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren
English impresario
- Malcolm Timothy Gladwell
Canadian author
- Malcolm
Jamaal Justin Subban, Canadian hockey player
- Malcolm James McCormick aka Mac Miller
American rapper
- Malcolm Carswell Ford
son of actor Harrison Ford & Melissa Mathison
- Malcolm Washington
son of actor Denzel Washington; twin of sister Olivia
- Malcolm Young
Scottish born, Australian rhythm guitarist of AC/DC
Malcolm in pop culture
- Malcolm
character in Shakespeare's Macbeth
- Malcolm
main character on TV's "Malcolm in the Middle"
- Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds
character on TV's Firefly
- Malcolm McGee
main character on TV's "Malcolm & Eddie," played by Malcolm,Jamal Warner
- "Malcolm
" 1986 Australian film and its main character
- Malcolm Tucker
character in The Thick of It
- Malcolm Fitz
Ezra's presumed son in "Pretty Little Liars"
- Malcolm Colonsay
main character in Malcolm, and The Marquis Of Lossie, by George MacDonald
- Malcolm Graeme
character in G. A. Henty's, The Lion of the North
- Malcolm
son of Athena and Annabeth Chase's half,brother in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series
- Malcolm Landgraab
several characters in "The Sims" computer games
- Malcolm Merlyn aka Dark Archer
born Arthur King, character on TV's "Arrow"
- Malcolm Beech
character in film "Oblivion"
- Malcolm Reed
chief armory officer; character from TV's "Star Trek: Enterprise"
- Malcolm
an evil court jester in the adventure game series The Legend of Kyrandia
- Malcolm
character in the Unreal Tournament game series
- Malcolm
real name of Peter Pan on ABC's Once Upon a Time
- Malcolm Fade
character in Cassandra Clare's "The Dark Artifices" trilogy
- Malcolm Landgraab
character in the Sims franchise