Boy · Scottish Gaelic
Malcolm
Say it: MAL-kum
Meaning
From Gaelic Máel Coluim 'devotee of (Saint) Columba'; Columba is Latin for 'dove'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Borne by four medieval Scottish kings, it spread from Scotland to the wider English-speaking world.
Its wave through time
Timeless: in steady use for over a century
In the United States
- 64,372 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1992, about 1 in 1,300 boys
- 1,160 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
| Scottish Gaelic | Maol Choluim |
|---|
Famous bearers
- Malcolm III, king of Scots
- Malcolm X, American civil rights leader
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.