Data story
The most common meanings in Malaysian names
Of the 5,353 names with a sourced meaning, 3,378 fall under at least one of 29 meaning themes. A theme describes what the word means, not the beliefs of the family who chooses it.
- Names with a theme
- 3,378
- Top theme
- Faith
- Share: faith
- 20%
- More than one theme
- 34%
29 meaning themes, ranked
Faith (20%) and light (17%) lead the other themes; the third, kindness, is only 7.2%. Click a theme for its list of names.
- Faith 683
- Light 573
- Kindness 243
- Nature 216
- Beauty 202
- Strength 194
- Wisdom 188
- Knowledge 186
- Leadership 176
- Blessing 170
- Royalty 148
- Happiness 141
- Protection 135
- Prosperity 132
- Purity 125
- Life 115
- Victory 108
- Flowers 105
- Love 101
- Honesty 96
- Peace 73
- The moon 72
- Water 69
- Courage 54
- Hope 53
- Stars 52
- Patience 45
- The sun 41
- Gratitude 37
Themes by language of origin
Each language of origin has its own meaning profile: faith leads Arabic names, nature Sanskrit names. Each cell is the share of themed names from that origin.
| Origin | Faith | Light | Kindness | Nature | Beauty | Strength | Wisdom | Knowledge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic (2,277) | 27% | 21% | 8.7% | 3.6% | 5.1% | 5.1% | 5.8% | 5.7% |
| Persian (156) | 7.7% | 17% | 3.2% | 8.3% | 11% | 3.2% | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| Hebrew (103) | 51% | 17% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 0% | 4.9% | 2.9% | 0% |
| Malay (117) | 11% | 19% | 5.1% | 6.8% | 6% | 4.3% | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Sanskrit (932) | 6.8% | 9.9% | 4.1% | 12% | 7.6% | 7.4% | 5.5% | 5.8% |
| Tamil (96) | 15% | 6.3% | 0% | 8.3% | 16% | 1% | 4.2% | 4.2% |
| Hindi (400) | 5.3% | 14% | 4.8% | 12% | 8.3% | 7.5% | 6.3% | 7.8% |
The split by sex and name category is in the meaning-theme explorer.
Themes that often appear together
34% of themed names carry more than one theme. The most common pairing is flowers with nature (51 names).
- Flowers + Nature 51
- Knowledge + Wisdom 50
- Faith + Light 48
- Leadership + Royalty 42
- Beauty + Light 34
- Faith + Kindness 34
- Blessing + Prosperity 29
- Courage + Strength 29
Example names for each theme
The four best-known given names in each theme, linked to their meaning pages.
-
Faith 683
-
Light 573
-
Kindness 243
-
Nature 216
-
Beauty 202
-
Strength 194
-
Wisdom 188
Mohd Faizal · Ganesan · Sumathi · Vikneswaran
-
Knowledge 186
Muhammad Hafiz · Muhammad Afiq · Muhammad Haziq · Mohd Hafiz
-
Leadership 176
-
Blessing 170
-
Royalty 148
Siti · Muhammad Asyraf · Ryan · Wan
-
Happiness 141
-
Protection 135
-
Prosperity 132
-
Purity 125
-
Life 115
-
Victory 108
-
Flowers 105
-
Love 101
-
Honesty 96
-
Peace 73
-
The moon 72
-
Water 69
Saraswathy · Saroja · Jaafar · Jafri
-
Courage 54
-
Hope 53
-
Stars 52
-
Patience 45
-
The sun 41
Dinesh · Ravi · Ravichandran · Samsudin
-
Gratitude 37
Sources
- Meanings and their sources: each name page
- Wiktionary: the meaning source for 3,079 themed names
- Behind the Name: the meaning source for 821 themed names
- How we research names
How these figures were computed
Meaning themes are given only to names with a sourced meaning, based on that meaning (for example “light”, “radiance” → Light). A name can have more than one theme, so theme shares do not add up to 100%. Percentages are shares of the 3,378 names with a theme (or of names with a theme for each sex or category). Chinese names are not sorted into themes because their meaning depends on the characters chosen; Chinese name pages list the possible characters.
Last updated .
How to cite
Free to quote with a link to this page. Suggested citation:
MalaysianNames (malaysiannames.com). “Malaysian Name Meanings: 29 Themes in 3,378 Names”. https://malaysiannames.com/en/data-stories/most-common-meanings-in-names/. Updated .
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common meaning in Malaysian names?
In this reference, faith (683 names), followed by light (573) and kindness (243).
Does the “Faith” theme mean the family is religious?
No. A theme describes what the word in the name means, not anyone’s beliefs.
Why are Chinese names not in these charts?
The meaning of a Chinese name depends on the characters the family chooses, so we give no fixed theme. The Chinese name syllable pages list the possible characters and their meanings.