Official JPN data
Popular names by decade
JPN publishes the most frequent first names (as published by JPN) for each decade of birth, in three tables (Malay, Chinese, Indian) of 10 boys’ and 10 girls’ names each. Figures are numbers of people registered.
- Decades
- 8
- Tables
- 48
- Updated (JPN)
- 2023-07-26
| Decade | Boy | Girl |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 40,657 | 46,711 |
| 1950 | 59,578 | 78,132 |
| 1960 | 70,762 | 83,005 |
| 1970 | 65,125 | 68,100 |
| 1980 | 60,849 | 51,883 |
| 1990 | 67,340 | 55,446 |
| 2000 | 98,524 | 66,012 |
| 2010 | 64,377 | 45,112 |
| Decade | Top boy | Top girl |
|---|---|---|
| 1940s | Ismail 3,820 | Fatimah 6,036 |
| 1950s | Ismail 7,992 | Fatimah 10,827 |
| 1960s | Ismail 7,907 | Rohani 8,073 |
| 1970s | Azman 6,173 | Norhayati 7,283 |
| 1980s | Mohd Faizal 8,340 | Noraini 6,056 |
| 1990s | Muhammad 9,865 | Nur Hidayah 5,402 |
| 2000s | Muhammad 34,038 | Nur 17,866 |
| 2010s | Muhammad 35,274 | Nur 23,159 |
Choose a decade
The Malay, Chinese and Indian tables are JPN’s own breakdown of the registration records. They describe the data, not the names: anyone can bear the same name. In the Chinese table the published name is often a surname. Source: JPN via data.gov.my (CC BY 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
Why is my name not in the tables?
JPN publishes only the top names for each table. A name outside that list has no public figure, and we do not estimate one.
Are Mohamad and Muhammad counted together?
No. JPN counts each spelling separately, and we do not merge the figures.