# Malcolm (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/malcolm/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 10,618 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,364 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 29,078 people |
| Change since 2000 | +10% (9,643 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmæl.kəm/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Royal name in Scotland, anglicised from various historical Goidelic names equivalent to Scottish Gaelic Maol Chaluim or Calum, Irish Maol Colm, Middle Irish Máel Coluim, Old Irish Máel Columb (literally “devotee of [Saint] Columba”); proper nouns derived from máel (“tonsured”) from Proto-Celtic *mailos, and columb (“dove”) from Latin columbus.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Malcolm in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 65% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 30% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Malcolm in the United States and Australia.

## People named Malcolm

- Norman Malcolm, American philosopher (1911-1990)
- Janet Malcolm, American journalist (1934–2021)
- Bridget Malcolm, Australian model
- Collin Malcolm, American basketball player (born 1997)

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.