Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Maleah

Maleah is a modern Americanized fancy respelling of Malia. Malia is the Hawaiian name for Mary. The traditional 12-lettered Hawaiian alphabet is only composed of five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and seven consonants (H, K, L, M, N, P, W), so when English-speaking explorers and missionaries came to the islands bringing their Christian given names (i.e., Mary), they had to be transliterated to a certain extent. Since there is no R or Y in the Hawaiian alphabet, Mary morphed into Malia. American parents discovered the pretty little Hawaiian name in the late 1970s and have since repurposed it with a variety of new spellings (Maliah, Maliyah, Maleah, etc). “Kreative” respellings of names is a very American thing to do.

All About the Baby Name – Maleah

Personality

OF THE GIRL NAME MALEAH

The Master Number Twenty-Two combines the traits of Twos and Fours into a powerful force. The references to The Master Builder and "large undertakings" serve to underscore the massive potential of this personality. They are extremely capable and therefore almost always successful. Twenty-Twos are courageous leaders, innovative thinkers, extremely wise and highly organized. As such, they are able to manifest something of major importance that will have a lasting impact on this world. Master Numbers carry with them a great sense of responsibility, so it can be a burden. However, Twenty-Twos are executors and action-takers. Further, this personality exhibits traits of the Twos, which brings sensitivity, spirituality and harmony, so their endeavors are likely to benefit mankind in some capacity.

Popularity

OF THE GIRL NAME MALEAH

Maleah first appeared on the U.S. popularity charts for girls in 2002 (following the rising success of Malia). Maleah has also gained some ground on the Top 1000 list herself. Malia and Maliyah are the two most common spellings of the Hawaiian Mary, but Maleah rounds out third place. Today Maleah enjoys pretty low-moderate usage but when you take all the possible spellings together then you’ll find Malia is a name much more popular than first meets the eye. They’re all pronounced the same way, so it’s difficult to guess which spelling may be enforced. Malia is the standard (and arguably the “correct”) spelling, but many American parents prefer the non-traditional approach of elaborate respellings. We’re waiting for Mahleigha to join the party any day now. Maleah looks quite pretty and manages to retain some of that Hawaiian flavor, but children with altered spellings of names generally have to confirm and reconfirm the spelling of their name throughout their lifetime. This can be a nuisance and something to consider when opting for secondary or tertiary non-standard respellings. Having said that, Maleah is a lovely name.

Quick Facts

ON MALEAH

GENDER:

Girl

ORIGIN:

Hawaiian

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

3

RANKING POPULARITY:

606

PRONUNCIATION:

ma-LEE-uh

SIMPLE MEANING:

Beloved (Mary)

Characteristics

OF MALEAH

The Master Builder

Leader

Large Undertakings

Confidence

Discipline

Organization

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Maleah

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME MALEAH

We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Maleah

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME MALEAH

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Maleah


Popular Songs

ON MALEAH

We cannot find any popular or well-known songs with the name of Maleah


Famous People

NAMED MALEAH

We cannot find any celebrities or significantly famous people with the first name Maleah.

Children of Famous People

NAMED MALEAH

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Maleah

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME MALEAH

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Maleah